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The Biblical Account 
of the Creation 



Shown to be in Accordance with the 
Discoveries of Science 



By 

Magnus Sabiston 



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New York 

1909 



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PREFACE 



EVER since the researches of modern science 
have begun to make known the early history 
of the earth, and the character and structure of 
the living creatures which successively appeared 
upon it, the truth of the Biblical account of the 
creation has been called in question. It is asserted 
that the facts brought to light are at variance with 
the narrative in the book of Genesis, and show that 
it cannot possibly be true. This involves conse- 
quences of momentous importance; for the account 
of the creation in the book of Genesis is the foun- 
dation of the Bible, which everywhere rests upon 
it and recognizes it ; and if it is not true as a record 
of the beginning of things, the Bible can no longer 
be regarded as a revelation from God, and its claims 
to inspiration and the belief of mankind must be 
rejected. 

Numerous attempts, therefore, have been made 
to discredit the facts which show that the different 
species of living creatures which now inhabit the 
earth sprang from other and older forms, in one 
of which man himself had his origin. But the facts 
cannot be ignored. They are brought to light in 
greater numbers every day, and their significance 



iv Preface 

is constantly becoming clearer and more convincing. 
But no progress whatever has been made in the 
interpretation of the Biblical account, which con- 
tinues to be regarded in accordance with the simple 
notions of a thousand years ago, and is, therefore, 
held to be at variance with the record of nature. 

This led me to make a careful study of every 
passage in the Bible that speaks of the work of 
creation, particularly of the first two chapters of 
the book of Genesis, to determine their relation to 
each other, and their true interpretation with reference 
to the operations of nature. 

I soon found that the second chapter has a twofold 
meaning in accordance with the twofold form of the 
Divine name used in it, Yahveh-Elohim, — one part 
designating the Creator as the God of law and order, 
good and evil, and the other, as the God of sinless 
nature, — and that it is descriptive of the physical 
formation and condition of the earth, as well as of 
man, to whom alone it is regarded as having refer- 
ence; and, further, that every chapter onward to 
the eleventh describes, in like manner, events con- 
nected with creative action, which modified the face 
of the earth and the condition of man. This is the 
work which Elohim finished on the seventh day (see 
Gen. ii. 2); and it is on the border line which con- 
nects the work of the sixth day with that of the 
seventh, and is, therefore, common to both. 

Every verse in these eleven chapters of Genesis 
I have compared, step by step, as I went on, with 
the operations of nature to which it has reference, 
and I have noted every sign in the symbolism of 
the Hebrew text, that indicates the deeper meaning 
connected with its brief but comprehensive state- 



Preface v 

ments. This has brought to light many things not 
hitherto perceived, notably, that the Biblical account 
of the creation, as written in the Hebrew text, clearly 
shows that all flowering plants had their origin in 
the first simple, cellular vegetation of the earth, 
and that it was not till after a long period of organic 
growth and development that different species were 
produced. And so with the fruit tree, the last and 
largest of all plants, which is, in like manner, shown 
to have proceeded by the same process of organic 
growth and development, from the flowering herb. 

Again: not only does the Biblical account state 
that animal life began in the waters, but it shows 
clearly that living creatures of the waters were the 
progenitors of the air-breathing animals of the land; 
and, finally, it speaks of one of the latter as the 
immediate progenitor of man. But this is not all. 
In the guise of a long and intricate genealogy, it 
gives in detail the history of man's origin and devel- 
opment, with the numberless changes of form and 
condition through which he has passed, as a creeping 
thing of the waters, and afterwards of the land, 
from the first protoplastic matter in which life began, 
till he became a highly organized being with an up- 
right form, and an intellectual nature that raised him 
far above the rest of the animal creation. 

In like manner the Biblical account gives the 
complete history of the formation of the moon, 
trom the time she began her existence as a dark, 
unstable mass of matter on the crust of the whirling 
earth, till she became a bright orb of light in the 
heavens; and, further, it makes the moon the cor- 
responding symbol of man, showing that they had 
a common origin in the dark, inorganic matter of 



vi Preface 

the earth, describing their formation by a common 
narrative, and making the phases of the moon, as 
she becomes more and more enlightened, the signs 
of the growing light in the mind of man. 

I have already said that there are signs of deep 
meaning connected with the written form of the 
sacred Hebrew text; and in the course of the long 
and careful study I have made to determine the 
true meaning of the Biblical account of the creation, 
I have discovered the existence of a great system 
of symbolism connected with it, and that this extends 
throughout the Bible from the beginning of the book 
of Genesis to the end of the Apocalypse. 

This symbolism had its origin in the phenomena 
of nature, to which also the events recorded in the 
first eleven chapters of Genesis have reference; but 
the narratives describing them w T ere derived, as is 
now well known, from older forms long existing in 
Babylonia. Accordingly, I have written a short 
introduction describing some of the ancient Baby- 
lonian notions of the creation and other events 
ascribed to the mythic gods, which makes clear the 
symbolism of the seven great cities of Nimrod — 
Babel, Erech, Akkad, Calneh, Nineveh, Resen, and 
Kalah — which is necessary to explain their character 
in connection with the formation of the moon as 
described in the tenth chapter of Genesis. 

The account in the eleventh chapter, of the building 
and destruction of the tower of Babel, is likewise 
derived from an ancient Babylonian legend con- 
nected with the clouds and darkness; and I have 
shown how these mythic conceptions of the phe- 
nomena of nature came in the course of time to be 
modified so as to become a true record of events in 



Preface vii 

the early history of the earth, and made an important 
part of the Biblical account of the creation. 

The significance of numbers in the symbolism of 
the Bible, which has for so long a time proved a 
subject of inexplicable difficulty, I have traced to 
a Babylonian origin, and discovered the principles 
of its development into complex signs. The im- 
portance of this symbolism, in denoting the character 
and relation of the different parts of the Biblical 
account, calls for a short explanation of the system. 
This I have, accordingly, given, in the first appen- 
dix to this book, with a diagram showing its origin 
in the four sections of the cosmic sphere, and the 
alternations of night and day; and I have exem- 
plified it by a good many instances in the chapters 
and verses of the Biblical text, and in the order 
and character of the work of the creation. This is 
the first part of the book to which the reader should 
give his attention, for it shows the events mentioned 
in the Biblical account in their proper light, and 
gives more effect to their interpretation. 

The numerical symbolism of the tenth chapter 
of Genesis, in Appendix II., should be carefully 
studied in connection with the table of the genera- 
tions of the sons of Noah, because of the marvellous 
way in which by their names and the numbers de- 
noted by them, the w r onderful history of the forma- 
tion of the moon is made known, and the many 
changes of form and condition by which the creeping 
thing of the waters became man. 

Appendix III., which contains a tabulated state- 
ment of the generations of Terah, and some im- 
portant observations on the symbolism embodied in 
it, is especially valuable as showing the gradual 



viii Preface 

growth of light in the original darkness of man's 
nature, and the beautiful symbolism which makes 
the moon in her change from darkness to light the 
sign of it. 

Appendix IV. consists of passages descriptive of 
the work of creation, from the book of Proverbs, 
the Psalms, and the prophecies of Habakkuk. The 
passage from Proverbs (viii. 22-29), i* 1 which Wisdom 
affirms her eternal co-existence with God, is remark- 
able on account of its speaking of the pre-nebulous 
state of matter; and the sublime description of the 
flood and of the separation of the dark moon from 
the earth, in the third chapter of Habakkuk, is 
given as an addition to the history of her formation 
in the tenth chapter of Genesis, with which it is 
symbologically connected. 

The present book consists of two parts, one dealing 
with the account of the creation in the first chapter 
of Genesis, described as the work of Elohim, the God 
of sinless nature, the other with the account given 
in the next ten chapters, where, as Yahveh, the 
God of law, he determines between good and evil, 
and, accordingly, he is named Yahveh-Elohim, in 
sign of the twofold character of his work. And this 
requires two separate interpretations, one of the 
formation and condition of the earth, and of man 
as a creature of the earth; and the other of man as 
an intellectual and moral being. 

The interpretation given here is the one which 
describes the physical formation and condition of 
the earth; and this includes the animals to which 
man belonged in his original darkness as a living 
creature, and brings him to the point at which he 
walks upright upon the earth, with a noble form 



Preface ix 

and mental faculties capable of distinguishing be- 
tween good and evil, as we find him in the garden 
of Eden. 

The higher interpretation of the Yahvistic work, 
which begins at this point, and makes of man a 
moral and intellectual being, having within him the 
dawning light of a spiritual nature, and a growing 
knowledge of the existence of God, is reserved for 
another book. 

I would add that I have endeavored to make 
the interpretation of this great subject as clear, 
pointed, and concise as possible, and that I preferred 
keeping the great number of new and important 
things I have brought to light, free from the confusing 
effect of numerous details. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction ...... i 

The Biblical Account of the Creation . 13 
Part I. Genesis I. General Account . 13 

Part II. Genesis II-XI: . . . .64 

1. Special Account of the Creation of the 
Earth ...... 69 

2. The Creation of the Moon . . .140 

3. The Creation of Man . . . .160 

Appendix I. The Hebrew Alphabet and the 

Symbolism of Numbers . . .197 

Appendix II. The Numerical Symbolism of 

the Tenth Chapter of Genesis . . 230 

Appendix III. The Numerical Symbolism of 

the Generations of Terah . . .246 

Appendix IV. Passages from Proverbs, the 

Psalms, and Habakkuk . . .250 






INTRODUCTION 



IT is now well known that in ancient Babylonia, 
the land of the forefathers of the Hebrew race, 
there existed accounts of the creation of the heavens 
and the earth, of man and other living creatures, 
and of a beautiful garden, called "the garden of 
the gods/' in which grew the tree of life, and also 
of a great flood which covered the wh .e earth, 
and of the building of a lofty tower m defiance 
of the gods, who destroyed it and punished the 
builders. These accounts are older by many cen- 
turies than the Biblical narratives of the same events, 
and are wholly mythical; but there is a direct con- 
nection between them, and the Biblical narratives 
are the ultimate forms of the early Babylonian 
myths. It is necessary, therefore, to go back to 
ancient Babylonia, and the notions in which these 
mythic stories originated, to explain the character 
of the narratives as they appear in the Bible, and 
show how they came to have a place in it. 

The first attempts of man to account for the 
existence of the world and the changes which are 
taking place around him have always begun in 
mythic conceptions of the phenomena of nature, 
and the gods of all primitive peoples have been per- 



2 Introduction 

sonifications of the powers of nature to which these 
conceptions have given birth. At a very early- 
period such a system of mythology had grown up 
among the Akkadians, a people of Turanian origin, 
who had established themselves in the land after- 
wards known as Babylonia, and founded its cities. 
Their mythological traditions and their notions 
concerning the gods and the creation of the world 
were adopted and developed by the Shemitic tribes 
which afterwards overran the country and became 
its masters. 

The Chaldcean Account of Genesis, written by 
George Smith, and revised by Professor A. H. Sayce, 
— a work based on ancient inscribed tablets found 
in the ruins of Nineveh, and now in the British 
Museum, containing accounts of the creation and 
of events in the early history of the earth — makes 
known to a considerable extent their notions of its 
origin, and their conceptions of the phenomena con- 
nected with its existence. Unfortunately, most of 
the tablets are broken into small pieces many of 
which are lost, and others cannot be put together 
so as to be deciphered; but those which have been 
translated are sufficient to serve in the interpretation 
of the Biblical account. 

These earliest inquirers into the origin of the world 
drew their first notions from the phenomena of night 
and day. The dark, lifeless night, which preceded 
the life-giving light of day, led them to the con- 
ception of a time in which, to use the words of Berosus 
the Chaldean priest, " There existed nothing but 
darkness and an abyss of waters." In close con- 
nection with this is the beginning of the tablet 
account : 



Introduction 3 

i. "At that time above the heaven was unnamed: 

2. below, the earth by name was unrecorded; 

3. the boundless deep also (was) their generator. 

4. The chaos of the sea was she who bare the whole of 
them. ,, 1 

The heavens and the earth were made by sepa- 
rating these chaotic masses from each other and 
arranging them in order. This was the work of 
the great god whom the Akkadians called Anu, 
"the lord of the sky," and the Shemites II or El, 
who is the Biblical Elohim, the God of nature. With 
Anu were associated two other great gods, Bel, the 
lord of the lower heavens and the surface of the 
earth, and Hea, "the god of the house of waters," 
which was in the under world. By these three the 
whole work of the creation was accomplished. The 
tablet account describes it as a gradual process, the 
successive stages of which it speaks of as "days," 
and adds that "the days were long." 2 

According to the Akkado-Babylonian notions, the 
earth was borne up on the waters of the abyss. 
From the depths of the west these waters flowed in a 
great stream, that divided into four rivers which 
encompassed the four sides of the earth. s Into these 
abysmal waters the sun descended every evening 
when he set, and emerged from them again every 
morning when he rose; and at each of these two 

1 Chald. Gen., p. 57. 

2 Chald. Gen., p. 58; Tablet I. 1. 13. 

3 The mouth of this divided stream is mentioned in the 
legend of Izdubar (Tab. XI. col. iv., 27-30, Chald. Gen., p. 
288). The hero, after journeying "in the path of the sun," 
and passing the western bounds of the world, reaches the 
bright region where Hasisadra dwells with the gods, "in a 
remote place at the mouth of the rivers. " 



4 Introduction 

sides of the world was a great gate, one through 
which he passed at his rising, and the other at his 
setting. Here, also, the sun approached the earth 
and impregnated it with his vitalizing light. It 
was by this union all things were produced; and, 
accordingly, the tree of life, which was the embodi- 
ment of these notions, had its seat in the west at 
the gate of the setting sun. And here, too, was the 
bright garden in the sunset clouds, known as " the 
garden of the gods." * 

This beautiful mythology was embodied in the 
land of Babylonia itself. The two rivers, the Tigris 
and Euphrates, between which it lay, represented 
the two great rivers which flowed, one on the east, 
and the other on the west side of the earth; and 
the rivers of the north and south were represented 
by two great streams which flowed through channels 
cut across the country from the Euphrates to the 
Tigris, the one on the north side being the Ar-Malcha, 
or " Royal River/' and the one on the south side, 
the Ar-Kush, or " River of Kush " (now the Arikhat). 

But the chief seat of this symbolism was the city 
of Babylon itself. Its native Shemitic name, Bab-el, 
means "gate of El," that is, of the Sun-god, Bel 
Merodach, to whom the city was dedicated; and 
it represented the gate through which he passed 
in radiant glory at the close of day. From an early 
period this part of Babylonia was called Gan Duni, 
or Duniyas, "the garden of Duni" (the Danaos of 
Berosus), one of the early mythical kings of the 
country, whose name identifies him with the setting 
sun. Gan Duni is only another name for "the 

1 Hea, the lord of Eridu, was "King of the rivers and the 
garden/' 



Introduction 5 

garden of the gods"; and to complete the symbol- 
ism, the Akkadians called the great city itself Tin- 
tir-ki, "the place of the tree of life." 

This extraordinary mythic and religious symbol- 
ism characterized every city in Babylonia. For 
instance: three of the most ancient and famous 
cities in the country — Erech, Nipur, and Eridu — 
represented the seats of the three great gods, Ami, Bel, 
and Hea, who presided over the upper heavens, the 
surface of the earth, and the under world of waters. 

Erech — in Akkadian, Uru-uku — signifies "the eter- 
nal city," called also Erech Suburi, the abode of the 
blessed; and it was so named with reference to the 
eternal city of the god Anu in the highest heaven, 
the dwelling-place of departed spirits. Hence Erech 
(Warka) was the necropolis of ancient Babylonia, and 
its ruins are surrounded by mountains of the dead. 1 

Eridu, which was dedicated to Hea, "the lord 
of the abyss," is placed by Sir Henry Rawlinson 
at the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates. But 
there was another Eridu, whose "mighty enclosure, 
the girdle of Eridu," was the red sky of the western 
horizon. This was the Eridu in whose dark forest 
(the dusky clouds of evening) Dumu-zi (Tammuz), 
the beautiful young Sun-god, met the unhappy fate 
which compelled him to spend half his time in the 
world below ; and here grew the great pine tree whose 
roots drank of the dark waters of the abyss, and 
its top of the light of heaven. Hea, the lord of 
Eridu, was the giver of life; and this is why the 
formula on an ancient tablet 2 for curing a man of 
the plague, says, — 

1 See Loftus's Travels in Chaldcea and Susiana, p. 198. 

2 Translated by Lenormant, Chald. Magic, p. 171. 



6 Introduction 

"Instil into him the regenerative grace of Eridu; 
Turn his face towards the setting sun. 1 * 

Nipur (Niffer) represented the seat of Bel in the 
middle world, over which that god presided. This 
explains why "his temple at the city of Nipur was 
regarded as the type of all others"; 1 for it was the 
great temple of nature herself, whose sacred ziggurat 2 
reached from earth to heaven. 

Kutha, the name of which signifies " darkness," 
was another of these symbolic cities. It was so 
called after Kutha in the dark under world, the 
seat of Nergal, the god of Hades, to whom it was 
dedicated. This Kutha of the under world is men- 
tioned in a cuneiform fragment (K 162, British 
Museum) describing the descent of the goddess Ishtar 
into Hades, a translation of which is given in The 
Chaldcean Account of Genesis, p. 240. When Ishtar 
demands admission into Hades, Allat, the queen of 
that gloomy region, says, — 

"' Go, keeper, open the gate to her, 

Bewitch her also according to the ancient rules/ 
The keeper went and opened his gate : 
'Enter, O lady, let the city of Kutha receive thee; 
Let the palace of Hades rejoice at thy presence.' " 

In like manner the great river on the western 
side of the world, at the gate of the Sun-god, like 
the river of Babylonia, which was its geographical 
representative, bore the name of Euphrates. This 
is the Euphrates spoken of in the message of Ishtar, 
the goddess of the west, to the solar hero Izdubar: 3 

1 Chald. Gen., p. 53. 

2 The pyramidal tower of the Babylonian temples. 

3 Chald. Gen., p. 227. 



Introduction 7 

"I will make thee also, Izdubar, my husband: 
Into our house enter, mid the scent of the pines. 
When thou enterest our house 
May the river Euphrates kiss thy feet." 

This can be understood in no other than a mytho- 
logical sense; therefore "the river Euphrates'' here 
mentioned is not the historic river of Babylonia, 
but the Euphrates of the sunset land, 1 described 
elsewhere as "the land of the pine trees, " where 
also was "the garden of the gods" and the place 
of the tree of life. This garden, as already stated, 
was a conception of the bright clouds of sunset, 
which presented the appearance of trees with glowing 
foliage and glistening fruits, and groves of light, 
bright with the splendour of the setting sun. 

The notion of a bright and beautiful garden in 
the sunset land existed also among other ancient 
peoples. The Egyptians knew of happy fields — 
the fields of Aaru and Hotep — where flowers of ex- 
quisite beauty filled the air with fragrance, and the 
golden corn grew seven cubits high beside the crystal 
waters where the Sun-god sailed in his bark at the 
close of day. The Persians had their paradise in 
the Aryana-Vaedjo, whose golden pillars, and odor- 
iferous groves, and holy fountain Ardvi-gura, all 
belong to the sunset land. The Greeks had their 
garden of the Hesperides (the bright cloud groves 
of the west) to reach which Herakles (the toiling 
sun) journeyed to the verge of the world, to obtain 
the golden apples which grew there. The Scandi- 
navians had their Asgard, the bright dwelling-place 
of the gods, on the plains of Ida, where grew the 

1 This, and not the historic river is the Euphrates beyond 
which the Akkadians placed the entrance of Hades. 



8 Introduction 

great ash tree Yggdrasil, whose roots were in Nifl- 
heim, the gulf of darkness, and its head in the height 
of heaven. There, as the Edda relates, dwelt the 
beautiful Iduna, to whom the gods committed the 
keeping of the apples of immortality, which they 
ate when they felt themselves growing old. But 
the crafty Loki beguiled her into a dark wood, and 
stole the immortal fruit. These apples are the 
golden apples of the bright garden of the Hesperides, 
Loki is the dusky red of evening, the dark wood 
is the forest of Eridu, and the great ash tree Yggdrasil 
represents the giant pine that grew there. 

But the beautiful garden of the Babylonian myth 
is described in records far older than any of the 
others, and is the one that has to do directly with 
the garden of Eden of the Bible. It is also in closer 
connection with the earliest mythic conceptions of 
man, and his first notions of good and evil. These 
were connected with light and darkness, and it was 
with the approaching darkness of night, when evil 
came upon the earth, that the brightness of the 
delightful groves disappeared, and the beautiful 
garden was lost. This is sufficient to explain the 
Biblical story of the garden of Eden, and to show 
its connection with the Babylonian garden of the 
gods, and the bright groves of the setting sun. 

And where else should the garden of Eden be but 
in the beautiful sunset land, where the early tra- 
ditions of all peoples have placed the happy gardens 
of the blest? And where else should the four rivers 
have their source, but in the deep fountain of the 
west, whence flowed the great streams which watered 
the whole earth? And where else should the tree 
of life grow, but where the ancient Babylonians 



Introduction 9 

placed it, — in the gate of God, in the garden of the 
sun, at the point of the mystic union of heaven and 
earth ? And where else should the tree of the know- 
ledge of good and evil be found, but on the border 
between light and darkness, their earliest and most 
expressive symbols? Thus it was that Eden was 
lost to man through the fruit of that fair but fatal 
tree, led thereto by the stealthy serpent of night, 
that reared his dark form behind it. 1 And in the 
curse pronounced upon the reptile, — that he should 
go upon his belly and eat dust all the days of his 
life, — we have the symbol of the creeping night 
feeding upon the dark and lifeless earth. 

The Babylonian account of the flood, in the form 
in which it existed long before the first book of the 
Bible was written, has come down to us in the eleventh 
tablet of the Izdubar legends, translated in The Chal- 
daoan Account of Genesis, pp. 279-294. It is of 
mythic origin, and must be interpreted on mytho- 
logical principles. But a careful study of the subject 
enables me to speak with confidence. 

It is a myth of the crescent moon and the darkness 
of night. This darkness is the waters of the great 
flood which covered the whole earth, and the ark f 

1 This symbolism is presented in an early Babylonian cyl- 
inder figured in The Chaldcean Account of Genesis, p. 88. 
In the centre there is a tree with a bunch of fruit on each side. 
On one side of the tree, shown by the three branches to be 
the east, is a man with his hand extended towards the tree ; 
and on the other side, shown by the four branches to be the 
west, is a woman with her hand extended to the fruit of 
the tree on her side, and with an erect serpent behind her. 
The two bunches of fruit, in connection with the symbolism 
of the tree, are significant, the one of good the other of evil. 



io Introduction 

which, both in the Biblical narrative and the Baby- 
lonian mythic story, preserved the seed of life, is 
the crescent moon, which the Babylonians always 
figured in a horizontal position, like a boat or vessel 
floating in the sky. 1 The living creatures and the 
seed of life in the ark are symbolized by the light, 
with which life has always been connected. This 
accounts for the great antiquity of the story of the 
flood, and its existence in one form or another, in 
almost every part of the world; for, apart from the 
spread of the original Babylonian story during 
thousands of years, the mind of man in the early 
ages everywhere connected darkness with a flood 
of waters and the presence of evil, and light with 
the presence and preservation of life. The time the 
flood lasts is according to the various mythic or 
symbolic notions embodied in the story. In the 
tablet account it is seven days. 

The building of the great tower is another notable 
event in the early Babylonian legends, and the 
original form of the story has been found in some 
fragmentary tablets dug up in the ruins of Nineveh, 
and translated in The Chaldcean Account of Genesis, 
pp. 163-5. Like the story of the flood, it is a Baby- 
lonian myth. The tower "whose top was unto 
heaven/ ' was a great pyramidal mass of clouds in 
the west, near the gate of the setting sun; and, in 
keeping with its origin, it is recorded in the tablets 
that it was destroyed by winds during the night. 

« This symbolism of the crescent moon was embodied in the 
Deus Lunus Arkaeus, worshipped by the Albani of Pontus, by 
the people of Cabeira in Armenia, where he had a superb 
temple, at Antioch in Pisidia, and at Haran in Syria, where 
he was especially honoured. In fact the Arkite Moon-god 
was worshipped all over Mesopotamia, Syria, and Armenia. 



Introduction 1 1 

Here the question may be asked, Does not the 
presence of these mythic stories vitiate the Bible 
and exclude its claims to Divine inspiration? This 
is a question which must be clearly answered. 

In the dawn of time, as I have already stated, 
the first attempts of man to account for the existence 
of the world and the phenomena of nature have 
always been embodied in mythic conceptions and 
stories. Accordingly, the history of all ancient 
peoples and of the earliest events known to them 
begins with stories of mythic origin. The notion 
of good and evil was soon connected with light and 
darkness, and the powers of nature were feared or 
worshipped according as they brought evil or good 
to man. 

In the development of these mythic and religious 
notions the ancient Babylonians were before all 
other peoples. Their land, as I have already shown, 
was made to symbolize the whole world, and their 
cities the seats of the gods. The greatest mystery 
of their religion was the principle of life, and the 
most sacred object of their worship was the symbol 
of the tree of life. 

It is remarkable in connection with the Biblical 
story of the garden of Eden that, in the Babylonian 
monuments, there are two trees: one, which was of 
Akkadian origin, is the great pine of Eridu, whose 
roots drank of the dark waters of the under world, 
while its fruit — the sacred pine cone of the monu- 
ments — connected it with the world of light ; and this 
connection with light and darkness identifies it with 
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The 
other is the palm, the sacred tree of the sun and 
of the Shemitic race. In the Ashera, or mystic 



12 Introduction 

symbol of the tree of life, it was always represented 
with seven branches; and the presence of human 
figures with eagles' heads and wings, presenting pine 
cones to it, shows that the symbolism has reached 
a stage where the worship of nature and nature 
gods borders upon a spiritual significance. Accord- 
ingly, it was in Babylonia, that Abram, the father 
of the Hebrew race, came to know of the existence 
of God. 

The symbolism of Babylon shows why it always 
appears as the world power in the Bible. From it 
alone, and no other land must the great father of 
the typical race come. His original dwelling-place 
there bore a most significant name, " Ur of the Chal- 
dees," in the Hebrew, Ur Kasdim, that is, "the light 
of the benighted ones" — the people of darkness, who 
knew not the existence of God. 

The Hebrew people naturally retained the tradi- 
tions known to them in the old land, of the creation 
of the world and the events of the early ages; but 
their former gods, the personified powers of nature, 
were replaced by the God who is a spirit. And 
when in course of time these ancient narratives 
were committed to writing among themselves, with 
greater light, and under the influence of Divine 
inspiration, they became absolutely true records of 
the creation and the events which followed it. And 
this took place without any violent transitions; for 
it was in the phenomena of nature that these mythic 
narratives had their origin, and hence they were 
appropriately used to describe the great operations 
of nature in the first ages of the earth. 



THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT OF 
THE CREATION 



PART FIRST 
GENESIS I 

DAY ONE 

THE work of the creation, as described in the first 
chapter of the book of Genesis, was not accom- 
plished by the instantaneous action of God's power 
at separate intervals of time; but it was a gradual 
and continuous process, operating through a long 
course of ages, and constantly tending to higher 
and higher results. The division of time into " days M 
is made for a symbological purpose, the " evening" 
and the "morning" representing two different stages 
of development in each day's work. The fiat which 
precedes every special operation of the creative 
power is intended not only to show the existence 
of the Divine plan in the work of creation, but to 
serve as an important part of the account in describ- 
ing the first stages of development in each day's 
work, and thereby aiding in its interpretation. The 
first word of the Hebrew narrative, Bfreshith, " In 

13 



14 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the beginning/ ' has reference to an indefinitely 
remote period : — 

Ver. i. In the beginning Elohim created the 
heavens and the earth. 

This does not mean "the beginning M as denoting 
a period before which nothing whatever existed, 
but the beginning of the present creation. 1 Beyond 
the statement that the spirit of Elohim was moving 
upon the face of the waters, there is nothing said 
about the origin of matter. The simplest element 
of which we can have a notion may be described 
as an infinitely subtile, imponderable fluid — the 
abysmal waters of verse second — which filled the 
whole space of the universe; and the first act of 
creation was the dividing it by vortical movements 
around certain points into thin vapoury masses 
which constituted the heavenly bodies and the 
earth at the beginning of their existence. 

2. And the earth is without form and void; and 
darkness upon the face of the deep. 

The description here given of the earth shows 
that for a long period of time it continued to be an 
unshapen mass of thin chaotic vapour. And the 
same is true of the sun and the stars at the beginning 

i The succession of creations is explicitly stated in the 
hundred and second Psalm (vv. 25, 26): — 
"Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth; 
And the heavens are the work of thy hands. 
They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: 
Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; 
As a vesture thou shalt change them } and they shall be changed.'* 



Day One 1 5 

of their existence. The "darkness" upon the face 
of the deep is the primeval darkness of chaos, the 
"deep" is the abyss. 

And the spirit of Elohim moving upon the face 
of the waters. 

The "waters" here spoken of are not the dense 
waters which at a later period covered the whole 
surface of the earth (v. 9), but the thin fluid or 
vapour of which the heavenly bodies and the earth 
were created — the abysmal waters of the depths of 
space. "The spirit of Elohim" is the subtle force 
that determined the formation and the physical 
properties of matter; and its "moving upon the face 
of the waters" is descriptive both of this process, 
and of the whirling motion which led to the spherical 
formation of the vapoury masses, and the stupendous 
phenomena of their revolutions in space. 

The first and simplest forms of matter were pro- 
duced by the action of infinitely small and elastic 
vortices in the thin fluid or waters of the abyss, 
their special character being determined by the 
number and position of the vortices united together, 
and their tension in each molecular group. In the 
course of this process the vortical action produced 
innumerable small bodies of vapoury matter, which 
formed masses of vast extent and of slight ponderable 
density 1 ; and as each point of these was carried 
continuously forward by the inherent motion of 
their atoms, in a series of vortical revolutions, a 
slow rotary movement of the vapoury masses began, 
which, together with their contraction in volume, 

1 See Appendix IV.; Prov. viii. 22, 29. 



16 The Biblical Account of Creation 

divided their outer parts into a number of smaller 
rotating masses of like vortical origin; and at last 
formed them into dense spherical bodies, all revolving 
in the same direction on their axes and around a 
common centre. Thus the same force that deter- 
mined the existence of an atom determined also 
the formation of a world and of the systems which 
compose the universe. 

It was, therefore, by no sudden impulse of Almighty 
power that the great orbs of the heavens were whirled 
on their courses, but by a slow and gradually increas- 
ing motion, which began with the vortical movements 
that divided the abysmal waters into separate masses, 
and attained its greatest intensity with the increasing 
energy of gravitation and the consolidation of the 
vapoury spheres. And this is why the moving of 
the spirit of Elohim upon the face of the waters is 
described, not by the finite form of the verb rachaph, 
but by its participle in Piel, merachepheth, which de- 
notes intensive and continuous action from the past into 
the present time. And in the moving of the spirit 
of Elohim upon the face of the waters all the forces 
of the universe and even life itself had their origin. 

As the first simple elements of the vapoury masses 
combined in the formation of the denser and more 
complex kinds of matter, the intense action con- 
nected with the changes in their condition and rela- 
tions made them luminous, and filled the depths 
of space with light. Accordingly, the moving of 
the spirit of Elohim upon the face of the waters is 
followed by the fiat, — 

3. "Let there be light," and the record, "and 

light is." 



Day One 17 

While this is descriptive of the appearance of 
light in the heavenly bodies generally, it has refer- 
ence also to the earth; for it was formed of the same 
vapoury elements, and by the same series of changes, 
it became luminous like the sun, and so continued 
for a long period of time. 

There could be no mention of Elohim's approving 
his work until the appearance of light ; but this made 
it appropriate, and here the word "see" is for the 
first time used : — 

4. And Elohim seeth the light that it is good ; and 
Elohim divideth between the light and the darkness. 

The event here recorded denotes the formation 
of solid matter. This resulted from the fiery ele- 
ments of the earth condensing into a molten mass, 
which gradually lost its brightness and grew dark. 
As already explained, the intense action connected 
with the changes in the molecular condition of these 
elements set free a part of their atomic forces in 
luminous vibrations; and the loss of energy thereby 
occasioned caused the particles of the great masses 
to contract on each other, and become fixed and 
rigid. And this is denoted by the " darkness, " 
which is significant of their opacity. Hence it is 
associated with lifelessness or death, just as light 
is with motion and life; and this is why "Elohim 
seeth the light that it is good," and why the darkness 
is passed over in silence. 

While the solidifying process was taking place, 
the "light" and the "darkness" were commingled; 
and the dividing between them was made on the 
one side by the transmission of light from the radiant 



1 8 The Biblical Account of Creation 

earth into the surrounding regions of space, and on 
the other by the solidifying matter ceasing to be 
luminous. But the dividing between the light and 
the darkness has also a symbological significance 
which will be explained in connection with the next 
statement of the record : — 

5. And Elohim calleth the light Day, and the 
darkness he hath called Night. 

The "Day" here, distinguished from all others 
by being named by God himself, is the olamic day, 
whose length is measured by the duration of the 
world; the "Night" is the olamic night of chaos. 
Hence the act of calling the light and the darkness 
by these distinctive names is described by different 
tenses of the Hebrew verb — yiqrd, " calleth, " and 
qard, "hath called," — the former denoting that which 
is in progress and extending into the future, the 
latter that which is already completed. 

For the same reason that the word "day" is used 
to denote the whole existence of the world, it is used 
also to designate the great creative periods, the first 
of which ends at this point of the record : — 

And there is evening and there is morning, day 
one. 

The "evening" was the period when the work 
of creation began with the dividing of the abysmal 
waters by the action of the spirit of Elohim, and 
the heavenly bodies and the earth were dark, vapoury 
masses "without form and void," moving slowly in 
the primeval darkness of the abyss; the "morning" 
was when the chaotic darkness disappeared, and they 
sped on their glorious courses rejoicing in light. The 



Day Second 19 

"day" represented by these two periods is to be 
measured by the mighty series of changes which 
converted the etherial vapour of the abyss into solid 
masses having form and motion, the magnitude of 
the changes being indicated by the immensity of the 
inter-stellar spaces which the formation of these 
bodies has made void. It is a day of millions on 
millions of solar years, and in like manner are all 
the other "days" of the creation to be understood. 

DAY SECOND 

As confusion is connected with the primeval dark- 
ness, so is order with the appearance of light. This 
is signified by the dividing between the light itself 
and the darkness, with which the formation of the 
solid orbs from their vapoury condition began. The 
progress of this creative order in connection with 
the earth is next described : — 

6. And Elohim saith, Let there be an expanse 
in the midst of the waters, and let there be a divid- 
ing between waters to waters. 

7. And Elohim maketh the expanse, and divid- 
eth between the waters which are under the ex- 
panse and the waters which are above the expanse : 
and it is so. 

The raqia, or " expanse," is the great dome of 
transparent blue which is stretched out high above 
the earth. But before the place it holds in the 
work of the creation can be clearly explained, it is 
necessary to speak of the changes in the primeval 
condition of the earth by which its formation was 
preceded. 



20 The Biblical Account of Creation 

After continuing as an incandescent and luminous 
body for a period which can be indicated only by 
some vast astronomical cycle, the fiery globe grad- 
ually lost its brightness and grew dark, as its surface 
decreased in temperature and began to form an 
opaque crust. But for ages this was everywhere 
broken and upheaved by internal convulsions, into 
huge volcanic masses boiling over with molten matter 
from beneath, and pouring forth rivers of liquid fire; 
and the whole earth was surrounded by an atmos- 
phere of black smoke, thick with volcanic dust and 
ashes. Above this, the aqueous vapour of the higher 
regions formed a thick canopy of clouds, which cov- 
ered it with impenetrable darkness; and as their 
density increased and reached its extreme point, the 
accumulated waters burst from them in floods upon 
the earth, and formed the primeval ocean which, 
in a state of violent ebullition, covered its whole 
surface. It was at this time that the making of the 
raqia, or expanse, began. 

The two parts of the fiat have reference to two 
different stages in the formation of the expanse. 
The first part — " Let there be an expanse in the 
midst of the waters," — relates to the removal of 
the dense volumes of volcanic dust and ashes from 
the atmosphere by the falling rains, and to the dis- 
appearance of the dark rain-clouds themselves when 
their waters were exhausted. 

Everything here in the account and the symbolism 
shows that at this time the moon was thrown off 
as a great unstable body from the face of the earth. 
She was, therefore, the immediate agent in causing 
the changes in the earth's external conditions in 
which the formation of the expanse began. And 



Day Second 21 

this explains what is meant by the peculiar expres- 
sion in the fiat, " dividing between waters to waters," 
which is descriptive of the moon's breaking aw r ay 
from the waters of the earth, towards the etherial 
waters of the heavens. 

That the expanse was of gradual formation and 
a work of time, is indicated by the later statement 
of the record; for while the fiat says only, " Let there 
be a dividing between waters to [i.e., towards] waters," 
the record carries it to completion: — 

And Elohim maketh the expanse, and divideth 
between the waters which are tinder the expanse, 
and the waters which are above the expanse. 

Therefore, it is not until this had been accom- 
plished by the upward movement of the moon, and 
the expanse had reached an etherial condition, which 
was not till the end of the second day, that the 
affirmation is made, 

"And it isso ,, ; 

whereas, in all other instances of its occurrence, 
it immediately follows the creative fiat. 

But the expression, mabdtl ben mayim lamayini, 
"dividing between waters to waters," is, as the use 
of the participle shows, descriptive of continuous 
action; and has reference to the atmosphere's taking 
up into itself the dense waters of the earth and 
converting them by the relaxation of their atomic 
forces, into the etherial waters of the heavens. 

8. And Elohim calleth the expanse Heaven. 
This shows that the dense clouds which covered 



22 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the earth with darkness had disappeared, and that 
the bright heavens were visible through the trans- 
parent dome of the expanse, which is, therefore, 
identified with them. 

The change from darkness to light marks the end 
of another great period in the account of the creation 
of the earth; and the correspondence of this change 
with the phenomena of dawn shows that it was 
wholly of a nocturnal character. Therefore, like the 
darkness of the first day, it is passed over in silence, 
without the usual record of approval, — " And Elohim 
seeth that it is good." But though it was through- 
out a period of thick, unbroken darkness, it con- 
sisted of two parts, one of an igneous, the other of 
an aqueous character, the explanation of which 
belongs to the next statement of the record : — 

And there is evening and there is morning, day 
second. 

The " evening* ' was when the dark earth was 
lurid with volcanic fires, and covered with a dusky 
pall of smoke and ashes; the " morning " was when 
this gave place to the black rain-clouds which dis- 
charged their dark waters upon the earth, till the 
dawn came with their exhaustion and disappearance, 
and the light of the heavens shone through the 
transparent air. 

DAY THIRD 

The emergence of the earth from the waters of 
the great primeval ocean, and the formation of dry 
land, is the next event recorded in the Biblical 
account : — 



Day Third 23 

9. And Elohim saith, Let the waters under the 
heavens be gathered together unto one place, and 
let the dry [land] appear: and it is so. 

In these few words is described the action of " that 
immeasurable force which has burst asunder the 
solid pavement of the globe.' ' This pavement or 
crust was formed in the long course of ages by the 
gradual cooling of the earth's surface, in effecting 
which the waters of the primeval ocean were an 
important element. But as the cooling process went 
on, the solidified surface shrank in some places into 
oceanic basins, in others it was rent and upheaved 
by internal igneous forces, aided by explosive gases, 
and the pressure of the denser and more consolidated 
parts. Thus, as the raging waters receded, the land 
rose slowly and gradually above them, in islands 
and low undulating continents ridged with hills and 
mountains, and lay bare to the light of day. 

The continuous operation of these causes, through 
unnumbered ages, lifted up the land slowly and 
intermittingly into great mountain ranges, and re- 
peatedly altered the aspect of the earth's surface 
by alternate upheavals and depressions, and inter- 
changes of the place of sea and land. Hence the 
broken and upturned strata of the mountain masses 
filled with the remains of plants and animals that 
have long since perished from the earth, on which 
the geologist looks with awe as he contemplates the 
vast remoteness of the periods brought before his 
eyes by these records of the past — records which 
have been written by the finger of God himself. 

10. And Elohim calleth the dry [land] Earth; 



24 The Biblical Account of Creation 

and the gathering together of the waters calleth he 
Seas. 

This has an important significance. The name 
" Earth, " in Hebrew, eretz, "that which is flat or 
low," is given to the land as descriptive of its inferior 
relation to the heavens, called in Hebrew shamayim, 
or "the heights." "Seas," the name given to the 
waters, is in Hebrew yammim, a term descriptive 
of motion, and which is in contrast with the fixed 
eretz, or land. The special purpose for which these 
two terms are used is to indicate that the two great 
forms of life that are soon to appear will belong 
respectively to the land and to the waters, — the 
plants, the lowest forms of organic life, to the land; 
and the animals, characterized by their motion, to 
the waters. 

At this time, owing to the swift rotation of the 
earth on its axis, the soft nebulous day and night 
followed each other in quick succession. A great 
unshapen mass of fiery vapours, with a centre of 
glowing brightness, rose in the east and filled the 
heavens with light; and when, descending from its 
mid-day height, it sank beneath the horizon in the 
west, a vapoury glow still lingering in the sky 
prolonged the light of day. 

This plenitude of light is significant of the appear- 
ance of life; and, accordingly, the Biblical account 
describes the production of the first vegetation that 
gave beauty to the earth, as taking place at this 
time : — 

1 1 . And Elohim saith, Let the earth bring forth 
tender plant, herb yielding seed, fruit tree bearing 



Day Third 25 

fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the 
earth : and it is so. 

12. And the earth bringeth forth tender plant, 
herb yielding seed after his kind, and tree bearing 
fruit, whose seed is in itself, after his kind: and 
Elohim seeth that it is good. 

The notion that all plants, from the humble lichen 
to the highly organized fruit tree, were originally 
produced at the same time by the earth is contrary 
to the course of nature, which is the visible working 
of God, and to the gradual and upward progress of 
the organic world, in which the lower and simpler 
forms precede the higher by long periods of time. 
This erroneous notion has arisen from the compre- 
hensiveness of the Biblical account, and the use of 
the word "day," which has always been taken in 
too limited a sense. But the vast period represented 
by a "day" in the account of the creation, demands 
that the production by the earth of the three great 
classes of plants be understood to apply to a cor- 
responding extent of time. This, taken in con- 
nection with the fact that the three classes were 
produced in a regular series, beginning with the 
lowest forms and ending with the highest and most 
perfectly developed, clearly shows that the latter 
were the result of slow and gradual organic growth 
out of the simpler forms which preceded them. 

The first and lowest of the three classes named 
is the deshe (from the verb dasha, to sprout), which 
denotes the early vegetation that covers the earth 
in spring time, and is used of young grass. The 
second class is the eseb, the herbs and other small 
flowering plants, including the ripened grasses; and 



26 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the third is the etz peri, which denotes all the fruit- 
bearing and forest trees of the primeval period. 

Since these three classes comprise all the plants 
of the earth, it follows that the deshe must include 
in its lowest subordinate divisions the thallophytic 
vegetation which consists of simple cellular plants. 
Its highest divisions terminate with the young 
grasses and other small seed-bearing plants in their 
immature state, while its lowest are propagated by 
spores, or by the division of cells only. Hence the 
creational record is silent as to the production of 
seed by the deshe. But the grouping together into 
one class, under this name, of the cellular and spo- 
riferous plants with plants which ultimately bear 
flowers and seeds denotes that there was a generic 
continuity between them, and that the lower forms 
gradually passed by organic growth into the higher, 
which is exemplified in the growth of the young 
grasses and other plants from the state of deshe to 
their seed-bearing condition. 

The first vegetation of the earth is represented 
by the vegetation of spring, when the young growth 
which covers the earth with verdure is composed 
almost wholly of cellular tissue, and as yet presents 
scarce a sign of those specific differences which it 
exhibits further on. Hence the creational record 
makes no mention of "kind" in the deshe; but it 
distinguishes it in the higher eseb, which flourished 
at a later period, and still more markedly in the latest 
and highest class, — the etz peri, or fruit-bearing trees. 

The gradual growth of the first plants of the earth 
from the simple thallus into the flowering herb, and 
from this into the fruit-bearing tree; and the pro- 
duction of "kind" which marked the progress of 



Day Third 27 

that growth, are denoted by the difference in the 
description of the classes in the creative fiat and 
in the creational record, which belong to two widely 
separated periods of time. In the creative fiat, the 
serial number of the word deshe, whose flowerless 
and cryptogamous character connects it with night 
and darkness, is five, the sign of the west and the 
conceptive earth; and in the creational record it is 
three, the number denoting the light of morning, 
symbolized by the flowering eseb, into which the 
higher forms of the deshe have passed. 

Again in the creative fiat, the earth is commanded 
to bring forth the eseb, "yielding seed" only; in the 
creational record, at the end of a long period of 
development, when the specific characters had be- 
come more marked and lasting, it is stated that 
" the earth bringeth forth the eseb yielding seed after 
his kind." 

The expression "yielding seed" (or rather, "seed- 
ing seed," mazria zera) is also descriptive of the 
intermediate place of the eseb, and of its connection 
both with the deshe and the etz peii. The Hebrew 
participle is from the verb zara, the primary sig- 
nification of which is "to spread out," and hence 
"to cast forth seed"; it has, therefore, the twofold 
meaning of "producing seed" and of "casting it 
forth." The latter process indicates that the eseb 
had its origin in the spore-shedding deshe, while the 
ripening of its seeds in a pod or capsule represents 
the process of development through which it became 
the fruit tree "bearing fruit whose seed is in itself," — 
a character which in turn distinguishes the etz peri 
from the eseb with its dehiscent capsule, discharging 
its ripened seed "upon the earth." 



28 The Biblical Account of Creation 

In connection with this, it is important to point 
out that in the creative fiat, the same verb that 
describes the production of the deshe, describes also 
the production of the eseb; and this verb, dasha, 
signifies simply "to germinate," or "to put forth 
sprouts," and it denotes the undeveloped and im- 
perfect state of these two classes of plants at that 
time; while, in the creational record, which belongs 
to a later and higher stage of development, this 
verb is used of the deshe only, and the production 
of the eseb is described by another verb, yatza, which 
signifies not only "to bring forth," but also "to 
bring to completion' 7 (see Ges. Lex., s. v.). 

The later production of the etz peri, or " fruit tree," 
and its generic continuity with the eseb, are shown 
by its sequence in the series, by the identity of the 
first letter of its name (Ayin, in etz, "tree") with 
the final letter in the description of the eseb (Ayin, 
in zera, "seed"), and by its beginning with the 
same characteristic with which the eseb ends, — 
"bearing (fruit) after his kind," its higher rank being 
indicated by the term "fruit" and the further 
words of the fiat, "whose seed is in itself upon the 
earth." 

This process of development is also signified by 
the different forms of the pronominal suffix to the 
word min, "kind," as written in the creative fiat 
and in the later record. In the fiat, the word lemino y 
"after his kind," is written with ) Vau only — 
13^Q^ ; but in the record, when the development 

of the two classes had been perfected, it is written 

in its full form with )n — 'IHIPD^ ' ^ em ^ ne ^ u - 

•• • : 
The symbolism would not permit the use of the 



Day Third 29 

letter (He) in the former case, but made it essen- 
tial in the latter, in connection both with the herb 
and the fruit tree; for the letter He represents a 
window or opening for light, which is the sign of 
life, and of this seed is the symbol 1 ; and the presence 
of this letter in the creational record shows that 
the production of seed had been perfected and made 
continuous. 

The evidence furnished by the Biblical account 
is complete, and it shows that the specific characters 
of all plants began with the lowest forms of vegetable 
life at its first appearance on the earth; that from 
these higher forms were afterwards produced by 
organic growth, and that their specific differences 
became more marked and lasting, till species at one 
time closely allied became widely separated by 
natural divergence, or by the dying out of inter- 
mediate forms; that plants in one and the same 
line of continuity have been changed in the long 
course of ages by natural causes so as to present 
the same difference of aspect and character that 
exists between different contemporary species; and, 
finally, that in this way the humble thallophytic 
vegetation, consisting of small cellular plants, which 
first covered the surface of the earth with verdure, 
has by organic growth and the variations of form 
and character caused by soil, situation, and climate, 
during the vast period that has elapsed since its 
first appearance, grown up into the innumerable 
species which compose the present flora of the earth, 

1 For this symbolism of the letter He, see Gen. xvii. 5-15, 
where the childless Abram and Sarai had their names changed 
by the addition of the letter He, into Abraham and Sara/*, as 
a sign of the seed which was to spring from them. 



30 The Biblical Account of Creation 

and has reached its highest forms in the lofty pine 
tree, the oak, and the stately palm. 

But what produced the first vegetable cells? The 
same power that now produces all vegetable cells, 
and from the minute germ builds up the humble 
lichen, the herb, and the fruit-bearing tree. The 
whole work of the creation was accomplished by the 
action of the laws of nature now in operation, from 
the formation of the dark, chaotic masses of vapour 
into worlds of light, to the production of the plants 
which covered the earth with verdure, and of the 
creatures which replenished it with animal life. But 
I cannot too strongly insist on the fact that the 
action of the laws of nature is but the working of 
the will of God; and this is the meaning of the oft- 
repeated statement, "Let there be," etc., which 
precedes every great operation of the creative power. 

The cells which present the first and simplest 
forms of vegetable life consist of small spheroidal 
masses of protoplasm, a complex kind of matter 
the elements of which were first brought into com- 
bination by the action of light and heat on the 
clayey matter formed in the waters by the decom- 
posing dust of the earth. Its formation into cells 
was readily determined by the mobility of its mole- 
cules and their sensitiveness to the action of light; 
and as they were put in motion under favourable 
conditions of heat and moisture, they acted upon 
the inorganic matter in contact with them, by a 
process akin to fermentation, and assimilated it to 
themselves, new cells being formed by the division 
of the old ones. And thus began the phenomena 
of vegetable growth, and the first humble thallophytic 
plants. 



Day Third 31 

As these spread over the surface of the earth they 
began to exhibit in different places where they sprang 
up a difference of form and aspect, and thus in the 
course of a long period of time were produced all 
the cellular and flowerless plants comprehended in 
the Biblical deshe. This class represents the gray 
dawn of vegetable life, concealing as yet beneath 
the horizon the light which is to brighten and beautify 
the earth. And just as the gray dawn, rising, grows 
into the bright light of morning, so did the deshe, 
in its higher forms, grow into the flowering eseb; 
and it was because of this resemblance of its opening 
flowers to the bright lights and colours of the morn- 
ing, that the eseb received its name from the verb 
asab, "to shine, to be bright"; and for the same 
reason, the plants of this class were called also oroth, 
or "lights." 

The highest point of this symbolism is presented 
in the etz peri, or fruit tree, which is significant of 
the appearing of the rising sun, and of living crea- 
tures; and this symbolism is indicated by the words, 
"whose seed is in itself, after his kind." Further: 
the typical fruit tree here is evidently the palm, the 
symbol of the sun; and its significance in connection 
with the production of animal life 1 is indicated by 
the existence of sex in this tree, some being male 
and others female. There is no break whatever in 
the symbolism between the highest forms of vegetable 
life and the beginning of animal life; and the fruit 
tree of the creational record is the prototype of the 
tree of life, and the first symbol of immortality. 

« A remarkable embodiment of this symbolism is seen in the 
Babylonian tree of life, which is represented by a palm tree 
with rams' horns affixed to it. 



32 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Hence the record ends with the words, " Whose seed 
is in itself, alter his kind"; and not as in the fiat, 
with the words, "upon the earth 1 ' which has now 
passed out of the symbolism. 

13. And there is evening and there is morning, 
day third. 

The "evening" was the period when the land 
rose dark and desolate out of the receding waters, 
the "morning" was when it was brightened with 
verdure and beautified with the light of flowering 
plants. 

But the "evening" and the "morning" of this day 
each represents two subordinate periods of a diurnal 
character. The evening period of the former two, was 
when the waters covered the whole earth, the morn- 
ing was when they were gathered together into one 
place, and the dry land rose above them; and hence 
on the accomplishment of this, as at the end of a 
creative day, there is a pause of contemplation, " and 
Elohim seeth that it is good." The evening of the 
latter two periods was when the seedless deshe cov- 
ered the dark earth, the morning was when the eseb 
brightened it with flowers, and the fruit tree ap- 
peared as the symbol of the sun. 

The calling of the dry land "Earth" and of the 
waters "Seas," as the two elements characterizing 
the "evening" of this creative day, is for the purpose 
of making a symbological series, in which the pro- 
duction of living plants is the third, three being the 
number significant of the appearance of life. Hence 
the three classes of plants and their production on 



Day Fourth 33 

the third day, which, again, represents the morning 
or, more exactly the dawn of the morning, of the 
great day that is to gladden the earth with the presence 
of animal life. 

DAY FOURTH 

During the long period that had passed from the 
first appearance of the bare and desolate land above 
the waters, till the whole earth was covered with 
verdure and flowers and fruit-bearing trees, great 
changes had taken place in the heavens. Their 
nebulous appearance was decreasing; the stars were 
forming clear-shining groups; and two great unde- 
fined but orb-like bodies, — one of glowing brightness, 
surrounded by a mass of fiery vapours, and the other 
wrapped in a misty veil of white — pursued their 
course in turns across the sky. As the bright, fiery 
body rose and set, there were a day and night, but 
not divided clearly from each other; for the glowing 
clouds around it stretched in a broad, luminous belt 
along its path and intermingled day and night. 

But the time was approaching when, by the con- 
tinuous operation of the physical laws which had 
produced these changes, the two great orbs of the 
heavens were to reach their perfect form and bright- 
ness, and divide between the day and the night. 
And, besides, an increasing power of radiance in 
the great source of light was necessary for the pro- 
duction of animal life, and the symbolism connected 
with it and the phenomena of nature required that 
the two orbs should appear in their full splendour and 
perfection. Accordingly, the Divine fiat commanding 
this is here given in the Biblical account. 



34 The Biblical Account of Creation 

14. And Elohim saith, Let there be lights in 
the expanse of the heavens to divide between the 
day and the night ; and let them be for signs, and 
for set times, and for days and years. 

15. And let them be for lights in the expanse 
of the heavens to give light upon the earth: and 
it was so. 

16. And Elohim maketh 1 the two great lights, 
the greater light for ruling the day, and the less 
light for ruling the night ; and the stars. 

17. And Elohim setteth them in the expanse of 
the heavens to give light upon the earth, 

18. And to rule over the day and over the 
night, and to divide between the light and the 
darkness. 

This record is as remarkable for its scientific 
accuracy as for the beauty of its symbolism, and 
it enables the changes connected with the phe- 
nomena of this creative day, and the formation of 
the two great heavenly bodies to be clearly described. 
In the interpretation of the second day's work, when 
the waters were divided and the expanse made, I 
stated that both the account and the symbolism 
show that at that time the moon was thrown off 
as a great unstable body from the earth. 

This is confirmed by the operation of the laws 
of nature and by the events of the fourth creative 
day. The creation of the heavens and the earth 
began with the vortical action of infinitely small 

1 Not createth them. The great mass of dark vapour in 
which the sun had its origin was created before the earth: on 
the fourth day it was made into a resplendent orb. 



Day Fourth 35 

points in an infinitely subtile fluid, which united in 
forming molecular vortices, presenting matter in its 
first specific forms. These material elements com- 
mingled with each other, forming larger and larger 
vortical groups, till they became the great vapoury 
masses which constituted the heavenly bodies and 
the earth at the beginning of their existence. 

Thus the earth, while still a vapoury body, re- 
volved slowly on its axis; and this rotary motion 
increased as its volume became smaller by the con- 
densation of its vapoury elements into molten and 
solid matter. At this time it was revolving with 
such great rapidity that it was nearly ready to fly 
to pieces, when the rain-clouds gathered over it in 
immense volumes, and the waters descending to the 
earth formed the primeval ocean, which strengthened 
the earth's crust, and gave solidity to its surface. 
But one mighty mass had already been upheaved, 
and with the accelerated rapidity of the earth's 
rotation it was at last thrown off altogether from 
her surface. 

At this time the earth was revolving on its axis 
in five or six hours, and the day and its twilight 
had scarce ended in the west, when it began again 
in the east. This continued for a long period of 
time; and at the beginning of the fourth creative 
day,' the day and night were still intermingled with 
each other by the succession of rapid changes, when 
Elohim uttered the fiat, "Let there be lights in the 
expanse of the heavens to divide between the day 
and the night." This division it must be noted is 
the first purpose for which the two great orbs were 
made. 

When the great body which was to form the moon 



36 The Biblical Account of Creation 

was thrown off from the earth, in a whirling course 
around it, at first the distance was not great, and 
the earth held it by its mighty power. But the 
moon in turn reacted on the earth, and drew its 
waters up in a great wave-like heap which checked 
the rapid whirling of the earth, and thus by almost 
imperceptible extensions lengthened the day and 
night. And so for ages upon ages this went on, 
the moon receding slowly from the earth, and her 
attractive power decreasing, till the great mountain- 
like mass of water at last subsided into gentle tides. 
But all this time they dragged upon the earth, retard- 
ing it in its diurnal revolutions, and lengthening out 
the day and night. The sun himself assisted in this 
work, and thus the two great lights of the heavens, 
obedient to the fiat, " divided between the day and 
the night." It was when the latter half of this work 
was to be accomplished, that the fiat for the dividing 
between the day and the night went forth. 

During the long period that passed in reaching 
this result, the slowly forming sun became an orb 
beaming with intense and radiant light ; and the pale 
moon, long hidden in volumes of white clouds, began 
to show a clear, bright disk. The stars, free from 
their nebulous envelopes, shone in the clear blue sky, 
and the fiery vapours near the sun, gradually disap- 
pearing, left only a faint remnant of themselves, 
still visible in the zodiacal light. 

The gradual change in the aspect of the two great 
bodies which were forming the sun and the moon, 
from ill-defined spherical masses surrounded, the 
one with fiery, the other with aqueous clouds, into 
bright shining orbs, during the period of this creative 
day, is signified in the terms in which their formation 



Day Fourth $7 

is described. In the Divine fiat, which commands 
their definite appearance (v. 14), they are spoken 
of first simply as "lights" "to divide between the 
day and the night " ; and the word ry^V$n , meoroth, 

"lights" (literally, places of light), is written deject- 
ively, without the letter ) (Vau). But when in 
the next verse (the fifteenth), which refers to a later 
period, they are " lights in the expanse of the heavens 
to give light upon the earth," the word is written 
more fully, with ) IT^I^D 

And the same symbolism is repeated in the crea- 
tional record (v. 16), which belongs to a period long 
subsequent to the flat: "And Elohim maketh the 
two great lights." This describes them at a time 
when they had attained a definite orb-like aspect, 
and their bright disks could be clearly seen; and 
here the word meoroth, though still without the Vau, 
is written with the article p| (He), which is the sign 
of a window or opening for light. 

But the development of the symbolism is not 
marked alone by the more fully written form of the 
word meoroth, and the presence of the article, but 
also by a change from the feminine gender, which 
denotes what is undefined and imperfect, to the mas- 
culine, which denotes strength and perfection. Thus 
the word meoroth, "lights," which occurs twice in 
the fiat at an early stage of the symbolism, has a 
feminine termination 1 ; but in the later record, while 

1 The purely feminine form of this word is meurah, which, 
according to Gesenius (Lex., s.v.), signifies "a light-hole," 
a bright cavity, such as is seen in the clouds around the 
setting sun. 



38 The Biblical Account of Creation 

that form is still retained in the expression, ham- 
meoroth haggedolim, "the great lights," the adjective, 
which, grammatically, should conform in gender with 
the noun, is here made to signify a change in the 
symbolism by its being written in masculine form. 
And this change is completed in the expressions 

/*1jn 'llNDn, hammaor haggadol, and jCDpH 

llSSDH hammaor haqqaton, "the great light" and 
"the less light," where the word maor, "light," is 
written in full, perfect form with Vau, and both the 
noun and the adjective are masculine, significant 
of the completion and perfection of the two great 
lights. 

But this is not all. I stated above in connection 
with "the tree bearing fruit whose seed is in itself" 
that the making of the two great lights which was 
to be the work of the next creative day was a sign 
prefiguring the production of animal life and its two 
sexes. Accordingly, the period preceding the sexual 
division of the first animal organisms is signified 
by the two lights being included together in one 
plural term, meoroth; and, what gives it special sig- 
nificance, this word is masculine with a feminine 
termination. And not only that, but the occurrence 
of both masculine and feminine signs in the term- 
ination of the words indicates the approaching 
beginning of animal life with its two sexes. 

19. And there is evening and there is morning, 
day fourth. 

The "evening" was the period when the sun was 
a glowing body without definite form in the midst 



Day Fifth 39 

of a mass of fiery clouds in the nebulous heavens, 
and the quick whirling of the earth overshadowed 
by the dark body of the moon, still revolving close 
to her in the sky above, intermingled the short, 
swift day and night; the "morning" was when the 
sun and moon as perfect orbs shone brightly in the 
clear blue sky, and the earth rejoiced in a long, 
resplendent day, divided from the night. 

The fourth day begins a new period in the account 
of the creation, and divides the whole series of the 
six creative days into two series of three each, the 
former of which represents the evening and the latter 
the morning of the great day that includes all the 
"days" of the creation. Hence the fourth creative 
day is appropriately characterized by the appear- 
ance of " lights' ' in the heavens; and their appoint- 
ment to be "for signs and for set times and for days 
and years' ' shows that it is by them the subsequent 
part of the account of the creation is to be interpreted. 

DAY FIFTH 

The rising sun is the quickener of nature, and his 
appearing on the fourth day as a radiant orb, which 
is equivalent to his rising on the morning of the 
great day, is significant of the production of animal 
life. This began with the lowest and simplest forms, 
which are also the most minute; and the conditions 
necessary for the existence of these forms show that 
water was the element in which they had their origin. 
Accordingly, the Biblical account describes the first 
living creatures as the progeny of the waters: 

20. And Elohim saith, Let the waters swarm 



40 The Biblical Account of Creation 

creeping things with breath of life, and flying 
things fly upon the earth, upon the face of the 
expanse of the heavens. 

It might seem that the beginning of animal life 
should follow close upon the production of plants, 
and should have taken place on the fourth day 
instead of the fifth. But a vastly greater period 
of time, accompanied by a change of biological con- 
ditions, was necessary to impart to the minute 
spheroids of protoplasmic matter, with which all 
organic life began, 1 the character of animal cells, 
and to produce from these by the slow process of 
specific growth and development, the fishes and 
other creatures which represent the animal life of 
the waters. 

The soft, nebulous light of the imperfect sun was 
sufficient for the production of plants, which are 
fixed organic forms, and which, as connected with 
the symbolism of the great day, began with the 
dawn and extended to the point of sunrise, where 
the night, significant of their immobility and of the 
lifeless matter out of which they were produced, 
ended, and the radiant light of the fourth day pre- 
pared the earth and its waters for the higher phe- 
nomena of animal life. Of this the sun, moving like 
a living thing in the heavens, is at once the symbol 
and the source ; for it was his vitalizing rays that 
quickened the earth with the first germs of life. 

Their free condition in the waters was conducent 
to the symmetry of form and spontaneous move- 
ments characteristic of animal life, both of which 

1 ' ' The animal no less than the plant commences its exist- 
ence as a simple cell. " — Huxley. 



Day Fifth 41 

were produced by the action of the sun's light on 
the delicate matter of the incipient organisms, which 
slowly dawned into sensation, while its affinity for 
the oxygen of the atmosphere gave origin to the 
phenomena of respiration. 

Just as the first simple thallophytic vegetation 
grew in the course of time into more highly organ- 
ized plants presenting specific differences of form 
and structure, so did the protozoic organisms — 
but much more slowly, owing to the more gradual 
and limited changes of temperature and other modi- 
fying conditions in the waters than on the land — 
grow into the higher forms of aquatic animal life. 
And in the same way their tendency to move in 
the direction of the sun's rays led to the formation 
of the organs of motion and sight, every stage in 
the development of which is still exhibited by the 
different classes of living creatures. 

Of these classes two only are mentioned in the 
creative fiat of the fifth day, — the creeping thing 
of the waters and the flying thing of the air. These 
represent the extremes of a series which includes all 
the intermediate forms of animal life. The sheretz, 
or "creeping thing," derives its name from the verb 
sharatz, which signifies both "to creep" and "to 
swarm," and the literal rendering of the fiat is, "Let 
the waters swarm creeping swarms," denoting both 
their innumerable multitudes and their minute size. 
But, more comprehensively, it is descriptive of all 
creatures that are produced in great numbers and 
move without feet, or by creeping upon short legs. 
This is shown by the classes of sheretzim mentioned 
in the eleventh chapter of the book of Leviticus. 
Of these the first is the sheretz, or "creeping thing 



42 The Biblical Account of Creation 

of the waters," denoting the fishes and other living 
creatures of that element (ver. 10); the second, the 
sheretz, or "creeping thing of the wing," which is 
descriptive of the insect tribes (vv. 20-22); and the 
third, the sheretz, or "creeping thing of the earth," 
denoting small mammalian creatures, such as the 
weasel and the mouse, as well as the lizards and 
tortoises of the land (vv. 29, 30). 

In the first class, which is the class of the creative 
fiat, are included the aquatic insects and reptiles, 
which were the progenitors of those that afterwards 
lived upon the land. All these creatures are ovip- 
arous, and it was in the spontaneous division of 
the first simple animal cells that the process which 
ended in the production of eggs began. The sheretz 
of the creative fiat, therefore, denotes the whole 
series of living creatures produced by the waters, 
from the first and simplest forms of animal life to 
the fishes and aquatic insects and reptiles of the 
protozoic period. 

The mode of production determines the succession 
of the classes in the Biblical account of the creation ; 
hence birds, the next higher oviparous class, follow 
the reptiles with which "the creeping things of the 
waters" ended. And it is to indicate their origin 
in these that, in the expression veoph yeopheth, "and 
flying thing fly," the usual order of the words in 
Hebrew, in which the verb precedes the subject, 
is reversed, and the subject, oph, is put first so as 
to be in direct continuity with the expression, nephesh 
chayah — "breath of life" — descriptive of the sheretz. 

The progenitors of the birds were small lizard- 
like aquatic reptiles, whose habit was to skim along 
the surface of the waters in search of food, or to 



Day Fifth 43 

escape from their enemies. Their efforts at flight 
began with a fluttering motion between swimming 
and flying, made by means of their two upper fin- 
like members, which were thus expanded into wings. 
This active exertion in the air led to a quicker res- 
piration and to those organic changes which enabled 
them to live upon the land. At first they could 
take but short and low flights, but these were ex- 
tended with the increasing size and strength of their 
wings till they reached their highest and greatest 
flights; and this is indicated in the creative fiat, 
where the words, "upon the earth, upon the face 
of the expanse of the heavens/' are descriptive of 
their flight at two different periods, the one at its 
beginning on the earth, the other when the develop- 
ment of their wings was completed. 

The first "creeping things" of the waters were 
small and simple organisms which presented little 
difference in size and appearance. The changes 
connected with organic growth and other modify- 
ing conditions took place slowly, and for a long 
time their swarming multitudes passed into each 
other so gradually that no clear line of division 
separated them into different specific groups. The 
same is true of the flying creatures. And hence, 
in the creative fiat of the fifth day, there is nothing 
said about kind in connection with these two classes. 
But in the creational record, which is separated by 
a vast interval of time from the creative fiat, and 
belongs to the close of the fifth day, the distinction 
of "kind" has been established among all living 
creatures, and the small aquatic reptiles, which were 
the last and highest of the sheretzim of the waters, 
have grown into the huge cetaceans and other mon- 



44 The Biblical Account of Creation 

sters of the deep. These, whose non-existence in 
the former period is signified by the silence concern- 
ing them, have now the chief place in the creational 
record. 

21. And Elohim createth the great sea-mons- 
ters and every living creature that creepeth, which 
the waters swarmed after their kind, and every 
flying thing of wing after his kind: and Elohim 
seeth that it is good. 

In connection with the process of development 
which produced the great increase of size and the 
distinction of "kind" among the living creatures of 
the waters, the creational record describes their 
moving by a new term, remeseth, which in its lower 
signification corresponds to the " creeping' ' of the 
sheretz, but in its higher is descriptive of the move- 
ments of amphibious reptiles, and of the four-footed 
animals of the land; and it indicates the existence 
of creatures with rudimentary limbs, from which 
these last derived their origin. And the same with 
regard to the flying thing: the word kanaph, "wing," 
is now added to denote the development of that 
organ by which the creature can fly "upon the face 
of the expanse of the heavens." 

The production of animal life, in which a material 
organization is moved and controlled by a sentient 
principle connected with it, constitutes a new point 
of beginning in the work of Elohim; and this is why 
the word yibra, "createth," is here used to describe 
the formation of the first living creatures, just as it 
was used to describe his first act in the formation 
of the heavens and the earth. 



Day Fifth 45 

22. And Elohim blesseth them, saying, Be 
fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the 
seas, and flying things multiply in the earth. 

Here the continuous propagation of living crea- 
tures is decreed in a special formula, while that 
of plants was included in the fiat by which they 
were first called into existence. This is because of 
their different nature. Plants are connected with 
the earth, of which they are but organic outgrowths ; 
and hence the earth was commanded to bring them 
forth in terms which denote their continuous pro- 
duction: "Let the earth bring forth tender plant, 
herb yielding seed, fruit tree bearing fruit after his 
kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth." Here 
there is a gradual ascent from the tender plant, the 
first organic product of the earth, to the herb yielding 
seedy and the fruit tree bearing fruit "whose seed is 
in itself" leading directly into the production of 
living creatures with a separate and independent 
existence. Hence the continuous reproduction of 
animals is decreed in a special blessing addressed 
to themselves. 

23. And there was evening and there was 
morning, day fifth. 

The " evening" was the period when all living 
creatures dwelt in the waters, and were creeping 
things; and of these the appointed "sign" was the 
sun, creeping at evening in the dark waters of the 
west. To this symbolism also the "set times" and 
"days," which were to be indicated by the two great 
lights, have reference; for the Hebrew moed means 



46 The Biblical Account of Creation 

both a "set time" and a "place of meeting," and 
in this connection is significant of the west and 
evening, when the sun, at the beginning of this 
creative day, met the waters of the west in a vital- 
izing union. The " morning " was when the flying 
thing rose on outspread wings and flew "upon the 
face of the expanse of the heavens," of which the 
sun rising on "the wings of the morning" was 
the "sign," just as at evening he was the "sign" of 
the creeping thing of the waters, in which the flying 
thing had its origin. And in like manner, when, 
towards the close of this day, he sinks again in the 
west, and makes a long, wavy trail of light, like a 
great glittering serpent upon the waters, he presents 
the "sign" of the tanninirn, the long-extended mon- 
sters of the deep, whose name is identical with that 
of the setting sun, — Tan. Hence the tanninirn do 
not appear till the close of the fifth creative day. 

DAY THE SIXTH 

The process of growth and development which 
had brought into existence the great air-breathing 
cetaceans and saurians and the amphibious reptiles 
of the lakes and rivers indicates that its next result 
will be the production of the more highly organized 
quadrupeds which live upon the land. Accordingly, 
the Biblical account describes these as following next 
in order: 

24. And Elohim saith, Let the earth bring 
forth living creature after her kind, dumb beast, 
and creeping thing, and beast of earth, after her 
kind: and it is so. 



Day the Sixth 47 

25. And Elohim maketh beast of the earth 
after her kind, and the dumb beast after her kind, 
and every creeping thing of the ground after his 
kind: and Elohim seeth that it is good. 

Here the earth is commanded to bring forth at 
the very first the "living creature after her kind" ; 
whereas in the case of plants and of the living crea- 
tures of the waters there is no mention of "kind" 
till after a long period of production. This implies, 
therefore, the previous existence of living creatures 
upon the land preparatory to this great develop- 
ment. These creatures were originally the aquatic 
reptiles of the lakes and rivers and shallow bays of 
the sea, which, at times, for the purpose of obtaining 
food or of depositing their eggs, crept out upon the 
land. At first they kept close to the borders of 
the waters among the reeds and grass, or in holes 
and cavities of the rocks; but they gradually ex- 
tended the range of their movements and the length 
of time they remained out of the w r ater. The organic 
changes caused by these habits, in the long course 
of ages, led to their becoming more and more air- 
breathing and warm-blooded animals, and at last 
made them altogether inhabitants of the land. 

This process had been going on during the greater 
part of the fifth creative day, and towards the close 
of it four-footed creatures abounded upon the land 
and were beginning to show signs of a division into 
specific groups. But they were still of reptilian, 
lizard-like aspect and oviparous. The change from 
this state to the production of living young of the 
same form and character as the parent, is what 
is meant in the first part of the creative fiat; 



43 The Biblical Account of Creation 

"Let the earth bring forth living creature after her 
kind." 

The waters were the great womb of animal life, 
and to them only does the Biblical account ascribe it. 
It was, therefore, from the creeping things of the 
waters that the living creatures of the land were 
derived; and this is why they are described in the 
creational record as the result of a formative process 
only — the word used being asah y "to make"; and 
why there is no mention here of their receiving a 
blessing: that had already been pronounced upon 
them through their progenitors of the waters. 

The symbolism indicates that it was when the 
" flying thing' ' first flew "upon the earth' ' that 
the "creeping things" began to emerge from the 
waters; and when, at a later period, it spread its 
wings "upon the face of the expanse of the heavens," 
they were beginning to become true air-breathing 
and warm-blooded creatures of the land. Their 
oviparous condition is signified by the sun in his 
character of the winged bird, and the change by 
which they were to bring forth living young, in the 
words, Vehaoph yireb ba-aretz, "and flying thing let 
multiply in the earth," with which the record of 
the fifth day ends. Not only is there a passing 
from the waters to the land, which is to bring forth 
the living creatures of the sixth day, but the word 
yireb ("let multiply") is connected by its symbolism 
with the west and the transition to the phenomena 
of a new day, and is paronymous with ereb t "even- 
ing," the time of conception. And the winged bird 
"multiplying," that is, sitting on her eggs and pro- 
ducing from them her living young, is significant 
of the great germinal development just then begin- 



Day the Sixth 49 

ning, by which the reptilian quadrupeds of the land 
were to bring forth their young alive; and of this 
the winged sun sitting on the western verge of the 
horizon is the "sign." 

But this coincides with the time and place of the 
sun when he presents the "sign" of the tanninitn, 
the great monsters of the deep, which include every- 
thing from huge saurian reptiles and gseat fishes to 
creatures of the whale tribe. These last bring forth 
their young alive and suckle them, and breathe like 
creatures of the land. Thus, as shown by their 
"sign," the sun on the horizon, they belong, half 
to the lower world and the dark waters, and half 
to the higher life of the upper world; and they con- 
nect the creatures of the waters with the mammalia 
of the land. 

And this is why, in the expression, Dv"?^ D JISQH , 
hattanninim haggedolim, "the great sea-monsters," 
the word tanninim is written without the letter Yodh 
in the last syllable, and the Qeri requires that it be so 
written. The reason for this is, that the numerical 
value of the letters in the designation, hattanninim 
haggedolim, must be exactly eleven hundred; 1 for eleven 
hundred is the exact transition point between ten 
hundred, which is the sign of the great cycle of life in 
the forms which belong to the dark waters, and twelve 
hundred, which denotes the great cycle of life in the 
upper world to which the mammalia and other quadru- 

1 n = 5> rn %°o t 2 i°o, 1 10, j 50, q 40= 1005 



50 The Biblical Account of Creation 

peds of the land belong. Therefore the name of the 
tanninim is written with a prefixed He, which denotes 
that they have become air-breathing creatures. 1 

But the creational record connects with the tan- 
ninitn, " every living creature/' which the waters 
had swarmed; but they are no longer described as 
sheretizim, creeping things without limbs, or only 
rudimentary ones, but as romeseih, creeping things 
with legs of greater or less length, and breathing 
air, as the prefixed He, the sign of respiration, shows. 
Among them were many whose habit was to flounder 
about in low, marshy places on the borders of lakes 
and rivers, and they were the progenitors of the first 
four-footed creatures that moved upon the land. 
And it is to indicate that with these creeping things 
there will be a new beginning in animal life, that a 
special symbolic sign ( | ) denoting a dividing, or sep- 
arating is written before haremeseth, the new term by 
which they are described. 

1 But this is not all. The number of words in the two 
verses (20th and 21st) which contain the fiat for the appear- 
ance of the living creatures of the waters, and the record 
of their creation, is thirty-two, and hattanninim is the six- 
teenth, that is, the middle word marking the end of the 
former half. And again: the total number of letters in 
these two verses is 146, the first half of which, 73, ends 
with the last J Nun — the sign of a fish — in hattanninim; 
and the second half begins with the last letter, Q Mem, 
and the place of the excluded ^ is between these two letters, 
at the middle point of the whole number. Its presence 
would have made a division in the continuity of the sym- 
bolism, as well as in the numerical value of the word, and, 
therefore, it is excluded. This shows the great importance 
of a single letter in the symbolism of the Biblical text. 
I have dealt minutely with this, because I will leave nothing 
unexplained in the symbolism of this marvellous account, 



Day the Sixth 51 

The viviparous quadrupeds which constituted the 
first mammalia of the land were of small size, and 
presented only rudimentary types of its later 
characteristic groups. Hence the creative fiat 
calls for the production of the three different 
classes with their larger and more highly organized 
forms. 

The first of these is the behemah, or "dumb beast, " 
the general name for domestic cattle and other large 
grass-eating animals; the second is the rentes, or 
"creeping thing," which denotes the smaller four- 
footed creatures, including the quadrumana; and 
the third is the "beast of the earth/' or wild car- 
nivorous animal. 

But there was a difference in the periods of time 
which it took for the production of the three classes 
and the development of their highest forms. The 
first large mammalia of the land were herbivorous 
animals, 1 but their food and their less active habits 
made their development slower than that of the 
carnivorous class, which were not produced till a 
later period, but whose more stimulating food, the 
excitement of the chase, and greater general activity, 
made their development proportionably rapid. The 
rentes, or "creeping thing, " was of an intermediate 
character, corresponding to its position in the series 
between the other two. Therefore, in the creative 
fiat the herbivorous behemah and the r ernes are simply 
named without any reference to specific differences, 
but the "beast of the earth," or wild carnivorous 

1 This is accounted for by the habits of the first creeping 
things that came out of the waters of the lakes and rivers, 
and made their haunts in shallow pools and low, marshy 
places, where they fed on tender plants and grass. 



S 2 The Biblical Account of Creation 

animal, is produced "after her kind." And this is 
why, in the later creational record, the first place 
is given to the "beast of the earth,' ' and the second 
place to the behemah as the next to appear "after 
her kind," and the third to the femes , or "creeping 
thing," which, in the form of a quadrumanous crea- 
ture, appeared as the last and highest of the series. 
Again: the third and highest class of the fiat is 

described as 10$ IrVH > chayetho eretz, "beast 

of earth," and the construct is written with Vau 
paragogic, which is a sign denoting its close connec- 
tion with the earth — that the creature was animated 
earth, and nothing more. But in the creational 
record which describes them ages afterwards, the 
Vau has disappeared, and the designation is written 
V J&n IVn , chayyath ha-aretz, "beast of the 

earth"; for in the symbolism the letter H is a sign 
which denotes the presence of light, — here the light 
of instinct and craft which has now appeared in 
the class of creatures described, which are beasts 
of prey. And, in like manner, the presence of in- 
stinct and some degree of intelligence are signified 
by the H prefixed in the creational record to behemah, 
"dumb beast," and to adamdh in femes ha-adamdh 
"creeping thing of the ground." 

This "creeping thing" was the progenitor of man; 
and hence he is called the creeping thing of the 
adamdh, or "red ground," from which man — adam — 
was taken. And this is also indicated by the final 
letter of the word, He, being a directive sign, by 
which adamah has the significance of "mansard"; 1 

1 For He directive, see Ges., Heb. Gram., § 90, 2 a. 



Day the Sixth 53 

and "the creeping thing of the adam&h" is the 
creeping thing which is to become MAN. 

For this reason his higher character is denoted 
by the use of the masculine gender in the term rentes 
"creeping thing," and in the expression, leminceu 
"after his kind," while the inferiority of all other 
creatures of the earth is denoted by the use of femi- 
nine terms, and the expression, "after her kind." 
Accordingly, following this unbroken process of 
development, the Biblical account next describes 
the creation of man, the highest and noblest of all 
living creatures : 

26. And Elohim saith, Let us make man in our 
image, as our likeness : and let them have dominion 
over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, 
and over dumb beast, and over all the earth, and 
over creeping thing that is creeping upon the earth. 

Here the fiat is not addressed as before to the 
waters or to the earth; for the highest point that 
an animal belonging wholly to the dark earth could 
attain, had already been reached. The next higher 
stage in the development of life must necessarily 
be connected with the spirit world and God himself. 
Hence the consiliar form of the fiat which brings- 
man with his twofold nature, earthly and spiritual, 
into existence: "Let us make man in our image as 
our likeness," in which the plural form has reference 
to Elohim as the God of nature, and to Yahveh as 
God determining between good and evil. But the 
knowledge of good and evil did not come to man 
till long after he was made. The power of dis- 
tinguishing between them existed at first only as a 



54 The Biblical Account of Creation 

latent and germinal principle in his nature, but its 
presence is signified by the part Yahveh takes in 
the formation of man, as is shown by the use of the 
word "us" and by the number of the verse, twenty- 
six, which is the number of Yahveh's name. 1 

The sun was both the symbol of Elohim and the 
" sign* ' of the living creatures which he made; and, 
accordingly, it follows that during this period his 
brightness was constantly increasing, and drawing 
towards its full perfection at the time of the crea- 
tion of man. And the end of the solar day, when 
his bright orb rests upon the earth and irradiates 
it with his splendour, is typical of the end of the 
great creative day, when intellectual light irradiated 
a creature of the earth, and in this phase of the 
symbolism, when, he is half above the horizon in 
the world of light, and half beneath it in the world 
of darkness, he is the sign of man with his twofold 
nature. 2 

The immediate progenitor of man, as his name, 
adam, shows, was "the creeping thing of the adam&h" 
and in his first movements as a child upon the ground 
(adamdh) he still exhibits the same posture and habit 
that characterized the infancy of his race. The 
erect position, which distinguishes him from all other 
living creatures, was the result of an instinctive 
tendency to stand on his feet, and was connected 
with a modification of his physical structure. There- 
fore, the expression used in the consiliar fiat, with 



1 PllPP • ^ 10 > H 5 > 1 6 > n 5, - ^6. For the numerical 
value of the letters, see the Hebrew Alphabet, Appendix I. 

2 See Abram's place in the diagram showing the symbolism 
of the sons of Terah, Appendix IV. 



Day the Sixth 55 

reference to his formation, is "make" (asah), the 
same that in the preceding creational record de- 
scribes the formation of the creatures of the earth 
"after their kind." And not only this, but in the 
expression, naaseh adam, "Let us make man," there 
is a paranomastic reference to nasa, "to set up, to 
erect," significant of setting "the creeping thing of 
the adamah" upright on his feet, and giving him 
a form and bearing which indicate his fitness for 
the high place he is to hold on the earth as the 
image of God, and the being who is to have "dominion 
over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, 
and over every creeping thing that is creeping upon 
the earth." 

Not only is there a striking symbological arrange- 
ment observed in this series, but the order in which 
man is to have dominion over the other living crea- 
tures is the same as that in which they were brought 
into existence, beginning with the "fish of the sea," 
and ending with "the creeping thing that is creeping 
upon the earth." The inferiority of this last to "the 
creeping thing of the adamdh is indicated by the 
repetition of the word "creeping," denoting con- 
tinuance of the habit, and by its belonging to the 
dark earth (eretz) instead of adamdh, the ruddy 
ground. Again: as we have seen in the different 
classes both of plants and animals, the higher forms 
are of later production than the lower, and have 
proceeded out of them; therefore man, the last and 
highest of all living creatures, must have proceeded 
from "the creeping thing of the adamdh" which, 
as the creational record shows, was the last and 
highest of all living creatures that preceded him. 
But, what is equally striking and important, the new 



56 The Biblical Account of Creation 

creature was to comprise a series of different races; 
and this is what is signified by the change from the 
singular term "man" to the plural "them," showing 
that these different races existed from the first. 

The duality expressed in the first part of the fiat, — 
"Let us make man in our image as our likeness," 
has reference to the twofold process of his physical 
formation, and the development within him of an 
intellectual principle. This, like the first production 
of living creatures, was the beginning of a new work, 
and hence his formation is described in the subsequent 
record by the word yibra, "createth": 

27. And Elohim createth man in his own image, 
in the image of Elohim createth he him, male and 
female createth he them. 

Here I must direct attention to the occurrence 
of the word "create" at three different points in the 
record of the work of Elohim, and that it is used 
to describe three different operations of the Divine 
power. First, in connection with "the heavens and 
the earth" (ver. 1),— the creation of bodies formed 
of simple, inorganic matter; second, in connection 
with living creatures (ver. 21), — organic matter hav- 
ing life and voluntary motion; and, third, in con- 
nection with man (ver. 27). But three is the sign 
of life both natural and spiritual; and, accordingly, 
at this point the word "create" occurs three times 
to indicate in the most significant form of the sym- 
bolism the creation of a being with an intellectual and 
spiritual nature, the crowning glory of Elohim's work. 

This threefold statement is connected with the 
symbolism of the rising sun. His bright orb, which 



Day the Sixth 57 

was the source both of animal life and instinct, was 
also the source of the intellectual light which was 
beginning to dawn within the mind of man, and 
the "sign" of his change from a "creeping thing" — 
represented by the sun of night — into an erect and 
intelligent creature. And just as the creational 
record described the formation of the beast of the 
earth as the work of Elohim, so here it does the 
same with reference to man: "And Elohim createth 
man in his own image." The emphatic repetition, 
"in the image of Elohim createth he him," is made 
not only to add to its force, but to meet a requirement 
of the symbolism. 

The final statement, "male and female createth 
he them," has reference to the presentation, in man 
as an erect creature, of those sexual distinctions 
which are less obvious in the natural position of 
the lower animals; and it indicates the germs of 
those notions in which the moral relations of the 
two sexes to each other had their origin. And this 
is why man alone is described as being created "male 
and female" and why the singular term "him" is 
here changed for the plural "them." The "sign" 
of this distinction is presented by the rising sun, 
the symbol of masculine power and energy, when 
he appears on the horizon and separates between 
the day and the night, the light and the darkness, 
of which the two sexes are the typical representatives. 

Man's position as an erect being is significant 
of dominion over the earth and all living creatures, 
and, accordingly, this is now conferred upon him: 

28. And Elohim blesseth them: and Elohim 
saith unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and 



58 The Biblical Account of Creation 

replenish the earth and subdue it ; and have do- 
minion over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the 
heavens, and over every living thing that is 
creeping upon the earth. 

The first part of this blessing has reference to 
man simply as a living creature, and, therefore, it 
is word for word the same as the blessing upon the 
living creatures of the waters, which shows man's 
connection with them. But his greater dignity is 
denoted by the fuller and more formal introduction, 
— "And Elohim blesseth them, and Elohim saith 
unto them," etc. But man is not only to multiply, 
and fill the earth, but he is to "subdue it." The 
Hebrew word here used, kabash, means literally "to 
tread upon, to trample under foot," and it is the 
Biblical way of describing man's change from "a 
creeping thing" to an intelligent creature walking 
erect upon the earth. 

The living creatures over which he has dominion, 
are named in the same order as in the fiat, that is, 
the order of their creation; but the series consists 
of only three classes: fish of the sea, fowl of the 
heavens, and every living thing that creepeth upon 
the earth. Not only is this number required by the 
symbolism, but to indicate the greater difference 
between man and his quadrumanous congeners, the 
latter, which in the declaration of his dominion 
appended to the creative fiat, were still separately 
designated by a masculine term, rentes, have here 
lost that distinction, and are included in one com- 
mon class with the other creatures of the earth 
under a feminine term; and the word "creepeth" 
(haromeseth, literally, "the creeping") is used to 



Day the Sixth 59 

describe the movements of all alike, and mark their 
inferiority to the erect and lordly step of man. 

The physical development and the habits of all 
living creatures are closely connected with their food ; 
and thus much can be learned of the form and habits 
of the new creature that sprang from "the creeping 
thing of the adamah," by the nature of his food and 
his way of obtaining it. This is clearly stated in 
the declaration connected with the blessing which 
Elohim pronounced upon him: 

29. And Elohim saith, Behold, I have given 
you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the 
face of all the earth, and every tree in which is 
the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall be 
for food. 

30. And to every beast of the earth, and to 
every fowl of the heavens, and to every thing that 
creepeth upon the earth, in which is the breath 
of life, every green herb for food: and it is so. 

This shows that the new creature fed upon the 
seeds of the smaller plants and the fruits of trees, 
and that he was of arboreal habits. But the sym- 
bolism embodied in the written form of the declar- 
ation reveals much more. In the Hebrew text, 
immediately after the word eseb, "herb," there is a 
grammatical sign called a pesiq ( | ) , which is a 
small upright stroke denoting a slight division in 
the text. This is to direct attention to the word 
eseb y that it is the sixth word of the verse; and, as 
such, it denotes a point in the symbolism correspond- 
ing to the completion of the six days' work, when 



60 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the earthly world begins to brighten with the intel- 
lectual and spiritual light of the seventh day, the 
germs of knowledge being signified by the seed of 
the eseb. 

This is in accordance with its symbolism as a 
flowering plant, explained in the interpretation of 
the third day's work, where it was significant of the 
brightening light of morning; and the highest point 
of this symbolism was presented in the ' ' tree bearing 
fruit whose seed is in itself," which was connected 
with the approaching light of the sun. And so here, 
where the tree with seed-bearing fruit is significant 
of intellectual and spiritual light. And just as the 
appearance of the fruit tree on the third day was 
recorded in the twelfth verse of the chapter, and the 
word "tree" itself was the twelfth word in the verse, 
so, here again, as required by the symbolism, it is 
the twelfth word,— this number being the sign of 
the cycle of the sun, the source of life and the symbol 
of spiritual light. 

And, in accordance with this symbolism, the word 
etz, "tree," is here written with the article He, the 
sign of light; while the eseb, because of its being 
the sixth word, and, as such, having its symbological 
place beneath the horizon line, is written without 
it. But in the thirtieth verse, eseb is the twelfth 
word, and this signifies that it has reached a point 
in the symbolism in touch with the fruit tree, thus 
denoting the connection in their development. 

This shows not only that at first man's natural 
food was seeds and fruits, but that he had learned 
to distinguish between the growing and the seeding 
condition of plants, and to know that fruits ripen 
in time; while the lower animals eat as they are 



Day the Sixth 61 

led by instinct, whatever the condition of the plants. 
This is why vegetable food only is here spoken of, and 
no mention is made of flesh, — the symbolism would 
not permit it. But further: man's eating of the 
"herb yielding seed" and of "the fruit of the tree 
whose seed is in itself," is significant of his having 
within him the germs of a spiritual life, and of those 
intellectual faculties by which he was to express his 
feelings and ideas by vocal sounds, and to transmit 
the knowledge of his individual experience from gen- 
eration to generation, in all of which he is distin- 
guished from other creatures of the earth, whose 
permanently dark mental condition is signified by 
their food, — "the green herb" only. 

But his freedom from restraint is indicative of 
his want of reason. For the Elohistic man of the 
first chapter of the book of Genesis there was no law. 
Moral consciousness had not yet dawned within 
him; therefore, he might eat of every herb which 
was upon the face of all the earth, and of the fruit 
of every tree. 

The usual statement of approval, "And Elohim 
seeth that it is good," which occurs at the end of 
every great period when Elohim contemplates his 
work, is here given in a more comprehensive and 
emphatic form : 

31. And Elohim seeth everything that he 
hath made, and, behold, it is very good. And 
there is evening and there is morning, day the 
sixth. 

The "evening" of this day was when all the living 
creatures of the land crept upon four feet with their 



62 The Biblical Account of Creation 

faces to the earth; the "morning" was when man, 
like the rising sun, lifted up his face to heaven, and 
stood and walked erect. 

This brief account of the creation surpasses all 
human conception in the comprehensiveness and 
grandeur of its statements, and its revelations of the 
secrets of nature. Beginning with the operations by 
which the heavenly bodies and the earth were formed 
as vapoury masses in the dark abyss, the work of 
each creative day comes before us like the successive 
scenes in a great drama. It reveals itself in beauty 
with the appearance of light, and awes us with the 
great phenomena of the dividing between the waters ; 
the surface of the earth shrinks into oceanic basins, 
and the dry land, black and bare, rises before us. 
The scene changes, and the earth is bright with 
verdure and flowers and fruit-bearing trees; the sun 
unveiled, and with increasing strength, sends forth 
his vitalizing rays; from him the light of life comes 
down to quicken the conceptive earth; the waters 
swarm with creeping things and fish, and birds fly 
in the air, and swift, four-footed creatures, of a 
thousand forms of strength and beauty appear upon 
the land. Last of all, the creeping thing of the 
adamah stands upon his feet and becomes man, the 
lord and master of the earth. 

But the first chapter of the book of Genesis de- 
scribes the creation of the natural world only; and 
man, the last and highest creature of that world, is 
siill, like the lower animals around him, without 
the power of reasoning and without a moral sense. 
He is, however, close to the point where the germs 
of thought embody themselves in the beginnings of 
speech, of which "the fruit tree bearing fruit whose 



Day the Sixth 63 

seed is in itself" is the sign. The darkness of his 
original animal condition has nearly disappeared, 
and the light which is to make him an intellectual 
being with a moral sense is about to dawn upon him. 
And this is signified in the symbolism of the last 
word of the chapter, shishshi, "sixth/ 1 — the day on 
which Elohim, the God of nature, ended his work — 
which is written hashishshi, "the sixth," with the 
article He, which is the sign of light; and, what gives 
additional significance to this symbolism, it occurs 
only in connection with the sixth day. 

The great period of light to which it has reference 
begins in the second chapter, where Elohim, the God 
of nature, is said to have finished his work; and then 
another account is given of the formation of man, 
which is described as the work of Yahveh-Elohim, 
the God both of nature and of the law which deter- 
mines between good and evil. But however different 
the two accounts of man's creation are, the inter- 
pretation will show that they are in accordance with 
each other, and that the work of Elohim passes into 
the work of Yahveh-Elohim, like the dawn from the 
darkness of night into the light of morning. 



PART SECOND 



GENESIS II 

THE second chapter of Genesis begins with three 
verses covering the whole creative work of 
Elohim, and his subsequent rest: 

i . And the heavens and the earth are finished 
and all the host of them. 

2. And on the seventh day Elohim finisheth 
his work which he hath made; and he resteth 
on the seventh day from all his work which he 
hath made. 

3. And Elohim blesseth the seventh day and 
halloweth it; because that in it he hath rested 
from all his work which Elohim had created to 
make. 

The statement, "On the seventh day Elohim 
finisheth his work which he hath made; and he 
resteth on the seventh day from all his work which 
he hath made," which has occasioned so much per- 
plexity to commentators, involves no contradiction. 

64 



The Biblical Account of Creation 65 

The explanation is this: the work from which he 
rested on the seventh day is the purely Elohistic 
work of the first chapter; and the work which he 
finished on the seventh day is the Yahveh-Elohistic 
work belonging to that day. 

Some hold that the proper place of these verses 
is in the first chapter, with which they are so closely 
connected. But the symbolism requires that the 
beginning of the second chapter shall be in direct 
continuation of the first, and that the part in ques- 
tion shall consist of three verses, — the number which 
is the sign of transition from darkness to light; and 
for this reason the name of Elohim occurs in these 
verses three times, to mark the exact point in the 
narrative at which his work as the God of nature 
passes into his work as Yahveh, 1 the God of law and 
order, — their unity being signified by the twofold 
name, Yahveh-Elohim. 

Accordingly, here the Biblical narrative passes 
into another account of the creation, which begins 
with these words : 

4. These are the generations of the heavens 
and of the earth in their being created, in the day 
of Yahveh-Elohim's making earth and heavens. 2 

1 This is also signified by the number of words in the 
two verses in which the name of Elohim occurs, which is 
twenty-six, the number of Yahveh's name. 

2 No one has accounted for the order in the latter part of 
this verse being "earth and heavens > ,, while in the former 
part it is "the heavens and the earth. " The explanation 
of this is important, and it is in place to give it. 

"The heavens and the earth/' is the Elohistic order; 
"earth and heavens" is Yahvistic. Hence the word "cre- 
ated" is used of the former; but the work of the latter, 



66 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Yahveh is the God of light in its relation to dark- 
ness, and hence, in the verse which describes him, 
conjointly with Elohim, "making earth and heav- 
ens," and in which his name occurs for the first 
time, the letter fj (He) — which is the sign of dawn- 
ing light — in the word D&T"I3^5 , Vhibaram "in 
their being created," to denote the faint beginning 
of this light, is written small. 1 

But what are the heavens which are here spoken 
of as being made after the earth? The narrative 
gives an account of the earth's beginning, of Yahveh- 
Elohim's forming man of the dust of the ground, 
of his planting the garden of Eden, putting the man 
there, and of his forming the beasts of the field and 
the fowl of the air, and of his building a woman from 
the side of the man. The two great lights of the 
heavens and the stars stand in abeyance; for the 
word "heavens" does not refer to them, but xo 
the creation in man of the mental and moral notions 
which constitute the heavens of the spiritual world. 

This makes evident why the tree of life and the 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil have so im- 
portant a place in the Yahvistic account of the 
creation, and also why, in the Yahvistic order, the 
earth precedes the heavens. 

Both in the Elohistic account of the creation, and 
in the Yahvistic, man has his origin in the earth, — 

which is of a different kind, is "made." And this is why, 
in the preceding verse (the third), it is said of Elohim that 
44 he hath rested from all his work which he had created 
to make." 

1 And the Massoretic Qeri, or authoritative note on the 
lower margin of the Hebrew text, expressly directs that 
the "He is to be small." 



The Biblical Account of Creation 67 

he is its dust; and, comprehensively, when the dust 
of the earth began to be, man was. Therefore, the 
Yahvistic account of his formation begins with the 
earth while it was yet a vapoury waste, and its mean- 
ing is twofold : first, it is descriptive of the physical 
formation of the earth, and of the events which took 
place in the early periods of its history ; and, secondly, 
of the origin of man as a living creature, and of the 
growth within him of those mental and moral notions 
which have made him an intellectual and reasoning 
being. 

Here I must point out that the first chapter of 
Genesis, besides being a record of the past work 
of creation, covers the whole history of the world, 
its end corresponding with the last chapter of the 
Apocalypse, with man a sinless being, and the earth 
a world of Edenic brightness and joy. 

In this view the different days' works are sym- 
bologically significant of successive phases in the 
world's history; and the creation of man, which is 
recorded in the latter part of the chapter, corre- 
sponds to his second creation as a pure and spiritual 
being. Of the creative days of the first chapter, 
the Yahvistic account makes no mention, for in it 
they are all included in one great olamic day — the 
day of Yahveh-Elohim's making earth and heavens. 
These observations are all that is necessary here to 
explain the great differences which appear on the 
face of the two accounts, but which will be found 
in perfect harmony with each other, when they are 
interpreted aright. 

The way for this is now sufficiently clear, and it 
lies along the line where the natural world and the 
moral and spiritual world meet and unite with each 



68 The Biblical Account of Creation 

other. 1 This is seen in the twofold nature of man; 
and, accordingly, the Yahveh-Elohistic account of 
his creation is also descriptive of the creation of the 
earth; for man is the earth, as well as the living crea- 
ture that was formed of its dust. 

A twofold interpretation, therefore, must be made ; 
and this is clearly signified by the twofold name here 
designating the Creator — Yahveh-Elohim. 

Observing the Yahvistic order of proceeding, in 
this part of the present book I will give the physical 
interpretation of the account; and in the third part, 
the moral and spiritual interpretation, 2 in which is 
embodied the early history of man, and his devel- 
opment from a creature guided only by natural 
instinct, to his becoming a reasoning and religious 
being. 

But the question may be asked, How can the 
story in the second and third chapters of Genesis, 
of the formation of man, of the garden of Eden 
with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge 
of good and evil, of man's sin and his expulsion 
from the garden, of the guilt and punishment of 
Cain, and the occurrence of other events recorded 
in the subsequent chapters, possibly describe the 

1 This is beautifully signified in the symbolism of the 
word uiS nB^S b'hibaram, "in their being created," where 
the two Beths represent, one, the house of the natural 
world, and the other the house of the moral and spiritual 
world, and the letter He, as before explained, is the sign 
of light between them. There is a reference to this sym- 
bolism in the name of Beth~biri t "House of my creation" 
(i Chron. iv. 31). 

2 See in connection with this, 1 Cor. xv. 46: "That is 
not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then 
that which is spiritual." 



The Biblical Account of Creation 69 

formation of the earth, and the great changes in its 
condition in the earliest periods of its existence? 

It is well to say a few words here by way of ex- 
planation, as it will serve to prepare the reader's 
mind for the interpretation which is to follow. 

I have already stated in the introduction to the 
subject of this book, that man's first notions of the 
phenomena of nature were embodied in mythic stories, 
in which light, and darkness, and the sun, and the 
clouds, and the wind, and the bright dawn, and 
the sunset, are described as men and women, speak- 
ing and acting like them, giving birth to children, 
and doing good or evil. The folk-lore of all peoples 
abounds in stories of persons and events which, when 
interpreted, are found to be descriptive of the earth 
and the changes in its ordinary aspect and condi- 
tion. This was notably the case in ancient Baby- 
lonia; and, as I before stated in the introduction 
to this subject, the narratives of the creation of 
the world, and of the events which occurred in the 
first periods of its history, which the Hebrew race 
brought with them from beyond the Euphrates, were 
naturally modified in course of time, and in the form 
given them in the sacred Hebrew writings they 
became, as their interpretation will show, a true 
statement of the events which took place. 



The Yahveh-Elohistic account of the creation 
begins with a description of the earth when it was 
a vapoury waste : 

5. No plant of the field is yet in the earth, 
and no herb of the field hath yet sprung up; for 



70 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Yahveh-Elohim hath not caused it to rain upon 
the earth, and a man there is not to till the 
ground. 

6. But a mist goeth up from the earth, and it 
hath watered the whole face of the ground. 

7. And Yahveh-Elohim formeth the man — 
dust of the ground, and breatheth into his nos- 
trils the breath of life, and the man becometh a 
living soul. 

The statement that no plant was yet in the earth 
shows that the time to which it has reference pre- 
ceded the morning of the third creative day; for 
then the earth was covered with grass and flowering 
herbs and fruit-bearing trees. And not only that, 
but as no rain had yet fallen, it was before it was 
covered with the waters of the seas — it was while 
the earth itself was an unformed mass of chaotic 
vapour. Therefore, when it is said that "no plant 
is yet in the earth/' it is a way of stating that the 
production of concrete matter in the mass of chaotic 
vapour had not yet taken place; for " plant' ' and 
" herb' ' are here used to designate the great vortices 
of elemental vapours by whose action the first forms 
of earthly matter were produced. The "mist which 
goeth up from the earth' ' is the vapour of the differ- 
ent elements; and its "watering the face of the 
ground" is descriptive of the forming of immense 
masses of molecular dust. Further: it is of im- 
portance to point out that the vapour goes up from 
the earth, which is dark; but it waters the adamah, 
the red ground, which is significant of the beginning 
of light. And at this point it is that Yahveh-Elohim 



The Biblical Account of Creation 71 

fortneth the man — dust of the adamah, — and "breath- 
eth into his nostrils the breath of life," — of which 
light is the symbol, — "and the man become th a 
living soul/ ' The nostrils of the man are the whirl- 
ing masses of the vapoury earth, and Yahveh- 
Elohim' s breathing into them the breath of life is 
descriptive of the increasing intensity of their atomic 
action and vortical motion, and it indicates that 
the earth has become a luminous body. 

8. And Yahveh-Elohim planteth a garden 
eastward in Eden, and there he putteth the man 
whom he hath formed. 

9. And out of the ground maketh Yahveh- 
Elohim to grow every tree pleasant to the sight 
and good for food; and the tree of life in the 
midst of the garden, and the tree of the know- 
ledge of good and evil. 

10. And a river goeth out of Eden to water 
the garden, and from thence it is divided and 
becometh four heads. 

11. The name of the one is Pishon, that is it 
wliich compasseth the whole land of the Havilah, 
where the gold is. 

12. And the gold of that land is good: there is 
the bedolach and the stone shoham. 

13. And the name of the second river is 
Gihon : that is it which compasseth the whole land 
of Kftsh. 

14. And the name of the third river is Hid- 
dekel: that is it which goeth east of Asshur, and 
the fourth river is Euphrates. 



72 The Biblical Account of Creation 

The garden in which Yahveh-Elohim puts the 
man is the beautiful garden of light, whose shining 
groves surrounded the luminous earth, like the 
bright cloud groves of the west around the setting 
sun, — which was the Babylonian garden of the gods, 
and the prototype of the garden of Eden. The tree 
of life in the midst of the garden is the sunlike 
light of the luminous earth; and the tree of the 
knowledge of good and evil is the tree of light and 
darkness. 

The river which came out of Eden to water the 
garden is the great river that issues from the depths 
of the abyss, and flows in four streams around the 
four sides of the earth, which the ancient Babylonians, 
who were the first to conceive of their existence, 
named after the four great rivers known to them. 1 
The land of the Havilah, that is, "the circuit,' ' is 
a conception of the north, where the sun goes round 
about the earth, and reappears in the east; and it 
shows that at this time the earth was revolving on 
its axis, which, at a later period, led to the succession 
of day and night. The gold which abounds there 
is the gold of the evening sunlight, and, as connected 
with the early history of the earth, the evening 
period of its sunlike light. The bSdolach is the 
transparent darkness of the evening sky, and the 
stone shoham the opalescent tints of morning; and 
they signify the production of concrete matter, and 
the formation of crystals, the beautiful symbols of 
imprisoned light. 

15. And Yahveh-Elohim taketh the man, 
1 See Introduction, 



The Biblical Account of Creation 73 

and putteth him into the garden of Eden to dress 
it and to keep it. 

1 6. And Yahveh-Elohim commanded the man, 
saying, Of every tree in the garden thou mayst 
freely eat; 

17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good 
and evil, thou dost not eat of it; for in the day 
thou eatest of it, dying, thou dost die. 

The commandment against eating of the tree of 
the knowledge of good and evil has reference to 
the time when the luminous earth would begin to 
lose its brightness, and its light be followed by the 
darkness which is death. Again: this tree is the 
symbol of day and night, and the sign of their begin- 
ning. But the rotation of the earth by which they 
were produced was accelerated more and more by 
the contraction of its fiery elements, and was affecting 
its stability. Therefore : 

18. Yahveh-Elohim saith, It is not good that 
the man should be alone: I will make for him a 
helper corresponding to him. 

19. And out of the ground Yahveh-Elohim 
formeth every beast of the field and every fowl 
of the heavens, and bringeth them unto the man, 
to see what he doth call them: and whatsoever 
the man calleth every living creature, that is the 
name thereof. 

20. And the man giveth names to all cattle, 
and to fowl of the heavens, and to every beast of 
the field; but for the man hath not been found 
a helper corresponding to him. 



74 The Biblical Account of Creation 

The cattle and beasts of the field which Yahveh- 
Elohim forms out of the ground, and brings to the 
man, are bodies of fiery, molten matter, which begin 
to appear like hills and hummocks upon its surface; 
and the fowl of the heavens are flaming bodies of 
like origin, thrown up by explosive outbursts towards 
the sky. But these had no effect in checking the 
great rapidity of the earth's rotation; and, after 
continuing for some time, the commotion they caused 
began to subside. 

21. And Yahveh-Elohim causeth a deep sleep 
to fall upon the man, and he sleepeth; and he 
taketh one of his sides, and closeth up the flesh 
under it. 

22. And the side which Yahveh-Elohim hath 
taken from the man, buildeth he into a woman, 
and bringeth her unto the man. 

23. And the man saith, This now is bone of 
my bone and flesh of my flesh: for this she is 
called woman [ishshah], for from man [ish] she 
hath been taken. 

The great event here described was the result of 
causes long in operation. When the earth was pass- 
ing into a molten and plastic state and had become 
nearly spherical in shape towards the north, the 
south side of it remained for a time an open gulf 
of fire, of vast extent, into which great meteoric 
bodies from the flaming sky above were continually 
falling. 1 At last the rapidity of the earth's rota- 

1 It is thus described in the Book of Enoch (Charles' 
translation), where, after the angels had shown him the 



The Biblical Account of Creation 75 

tion rent this part of its surface asunder; it felt 
in, 1 and the great gulf was filled with molten matter 
from beneath. This completed the symmetrical 

foundations of the earth and the phenomena connected 
with its formation, he says, " XVIII. 6. And I proceeded 
towards the south, and there it burns day and night, where 
there are seven mountains of magnificent stones, three 
towards the east and three towards the south. ... 9. And 
I saw a naming fire which was in all the mountains. 10. 
And I saw there a place, over against the great earth: there 
the heavens were gathered together. 11. And I saw a 
deep abyss, with pillars of heavenly fire, and among them 
I saw pillars of heavenly fire fall which were in number 
beyond count, alike towards the height and towards the 
depth. 12. And over that abyss I saw a place which had 
no firmament of the heaven above, and no foundation of 
the earth beneath it. . . . 14. And the angel said: 'This 
is the place where heaven and earth terminate, it serves 
for a prison for the stars of heaven and the host of heaven'. 
XIX. 1. And Uriel said to me, 'Here will stand the 
angels who have connected themselves with women, . . . 
(here will they stand) till the day of the great judgment/ " 

The stars of heaven, here spoken of, are the flaming bodies 
of meteoric matter that fall into the great fiery gulf, which 
becomes their prison-house of darkness; and Uriel's words 
show that this side of the earth is connected with the sym- 
bolism of woman, 

* Enoch (Ivii. 1, 2) describes this terrific event as a great 
earthquake which shook the whole earth and changed the 
position of its axis: 

"And it came to pass after this" (the opening of the 
jaws of Sheol) "that I saw again a host of waggons 
whereon men were riding, and they came on the wings of 
the wind from the East, and from the West to the South, 
And the noise of their waggons was heard, and when this 
turmoil took place the holy ones from the heaven remarked 
it, and the pillars of the earth were moved from their place, 
and (the sound thereof) was heard from the one extremity 
of heaven to the other in one day." 



76 The Biblical Account of Creation 

formation of the earth, and the side connected with 
the symbolism of woman 1 became the counterpart 
of the side connected with the symbolism of man. 

Hence the words with which the man receives 
the woman, "This now is bone of my bone and flesh 
of my flesh, " — where the bone is the hard, solidify- 
ing parts of the earth, and the flesh the red molten 
matter beneath. The further statement, "For this 
she is called woman [ishshah], for from man [ish] 
she hath been taken," has more significance than 
appears on the face of the terms; for ish, now used 
for the first time for man, is derived from esh, "fire," 
and has reference to the elemental fire embodied in 
the Adamic earth. 

And in the next verse : 

24. Therefore doth a man leave his father 
and his mother and cleave unto his wife, and they 
have become one flesh, — 

the word ishshah, "wife," signifies that she is the 
medium through which the lost light of the Adamic 
earth is to be renewed. 

25. And they are both naked, the man and 
his wife, and are not ashamed. 

This brings them into close relation to the serpent 
in the next chapter; for arum, "naked," which 

1 See in connection with this, "The chambers of the south." 
—Job ix. 9. The expression is comprehensive, but the sym- 
bolism is clear; and it may be remarked that the Hebrew 
word here used, chadarim, denoted originally a place sur- 
rounded with a wall or rampart, and then a chamber, or 
part of a tent or house, especially for women. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 77 

describes their condition, is the same word that is 
used of the serpent and rendered " subtle.' ' 

GENESIS III 

i. And the serpent hath been subtle beyond 
every beast of the field which Yahveh-Elohim 
hath made, and he saith unto the woman, Is it 
so that Elohim hath said, Ye shall not eat of all 
the trees of the garden ? 

2. And the woman saith unto the serpent, 
Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we do eat; 

3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the 
midst of the garden, Elohim hath said, Ye do 
not eat of it nor touch it, lest ye die. 

4. And the serpent saith, Dying, ye do not 
die; 

5. For Elohim doth know that in the day ye 
eat of it your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall 
be as Elohim, knowing good and evil. 

6. And the woman seeth that the tree is good 
for food, and that it is a delight to the eyes, and 
that the tree is to be desired to make one wise; 
and she taketh of its fruit and eateth, and giveth 
also to her husband with her, and he doth eat. 

The serpent which has so important a place in 
this narrative is the serpent of darkness, and, there- 
fore, he comes to the woman, who is connected in 
the symbolism with the darkness of the earth. The 
light that had made it luminous was now disappear- 
ing, and for her nothing but the mingled light and 
darkness of the tree of the knowledge of good and 



78 The Biblical Account of Creation 

evil remained. And this tree is the dark earth, 
beautiful with the last gleams of dying light. The 
woman's eating of it first, and then giving to her 
husband, shows that the south side of the earth was 
the first to lose its light in the growing darkness. 

7. And the eyes of them both are opened, and 
they know that they are naked, and they sew 
fig leaves together and make themselves aprons. 

8. And they hear the voice of Yahveh-Elohim 
walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and 
the man and his wife hide themselves from the 
presence of Yahveh-Elohim amidst the trees of 
the garden. 

9. And Yahveh-Elohim calleth unto the man, 
and saith unto him, Where art thou ? 

10. And he saith, I have heard thy voice in 
the garden, and I am afraid, for I am naked; and 
I hide myself. 

11. And he saith, Who hath told thee that 
thou are naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree of 
which I have commanded thee that thou shouldst 
not eat? 

12. And the man saith, The woman whom 
thou gavest to be with me, she hath given me of 
the tree, and I have eaten. 

1 3 . And Yahveh-Elohim saith unto the woman, 
What is this thou hast done? and the woman 
saith, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 

14. And Yahveh-Elohim saith unto the ser- 
pent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art 
thou from among all cattle, and from every beast 



The Biblical Account of Creation 79 

of the field; upon thy belly dost thou go, and dust 
dost thou eat all the days of thy life. 

15. And I put enmity between thee and the 
woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he 
doth bruise thy head, and thou dost bruise his 
heel. 

16. And unto the woman he saith, I do greatly 
multiply thy pain and thy conception: in pain 
dost thou bring forth children; and thy desire is 
to thy husband, and he doth rule over thee. 

17. And unto the man he saith, Because thou 
hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and 
hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, 
saying, Thou dost not eat of it : cursed is the ground 
for thy sake ; in toil thou dost eat of it all the days 
of thy life; 

18. Thorns also and thistles it doth bring 
forth to thee; and thou dost eat the herb of the 
field; 

19. In the sweat of thy face thou dost eat 
bread till thy return unto the ground; for out of 
it thou hast been taken: for dust thou art, and 
unto dust dost thou return. 

20. And the man calleth his wife's name 
Hhawah [Source of life] ; because she is the mother 
of all living. 

21. And Yahveh-Elohim maketh for the man 
and his wife coats of skin, and putteth them on 
them. 

The fig leaves with which they make themselves 
aprons are the first dusky films that appeared on 



80 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the surface of the molten earth ; the voice of Yahveh- 
Elohim walking in the garden, is the sound of the 
great wind that began to rush around the earth; 
and it is this wind which causes "the cool of the 
day," when the intense heat of the earth was begin- 
ning to abate. The trees in the midst of which they 
hide themselves from the presence of Yahveh-Elohim 
are the dark cloud groves of dust from its dying 
fires. 

The curse pronounced upon the serpent for the 
part he has taken in destroying the brightness of 
the earth applies to him not only as the serpent 
of the dark night which had settled down upon it, 
but also as the great serpent of the abyss.. 1 For 
the Hebrew word arum, rendered "subtle," denotes, 
in its physical sense, an exceedingly thin and attenu- 
ated state of matter ; and it is accurately descriptive 
of the thin chaotic element in which all forms of 
matter were at first produced, and to which they 
will ultimately return. Of this element, as it exists 
in the depths of space, the serpent of chaos or the 
abyss is the symbol. His food is the dust of dead 
and dying worlds; and, therefore, the curse pro- 
nounced upon him is, that he shall go upon his belly 
and eat dust all the days of his life. 

The symbolism that brought the serpent into close 
relation to the woman ends with the disappearance 
from the earth of the chaotic conditions with which 
she had been connected; and the principle of law 
and order, with which she is henceforth to be asso- 
ciated, necessarily puts her and her seed and the 

> Hence he does not and cannot know Yahveh, the God 
of law and order, but only Elohim, the God of nature; and 
in this he is followed by the woman as the symbolism requires . 



The Biblical Account of Creation Si 

serpent and his seed in opposition to each other. 
Hence the lasting enmity between them. Her seed 
is to bruise the serpent's head, and the serpent is 
to bruise his heel. The great event to which this 
has reference is the most important in the physical 
history of the earth. 

The punishment of the woman — that her pain 
and her conception are to be multiplied, and that in 
pain she is to bring forth children — is descriptive 
of the throes and convulsions of the groaning earth 
in the formation and upheaval of new lands, and 
the birth of hills and mountains. And her desire 
towards her husband is the greater power by which 
the south side of the earth, now no longer an open 
gulf, but a hemispherical mass of molten matter, 
is drawn towards the north side, and held steadfastly 
to it. 

But while the punishment of the woman is con- 
nected with the beginning of life, that of the man 
is connected with its evils and its end. The curse 
put on the ground for his eating of the tree of the 
knowledge of good and evil is the curse of darkness; 
the thorn and thistle it brings forth are branching 
streams and outflows of fiery matter which harden 
on its black and broken surface ; and the herb of the 
field is the outgrowth of weaker parts of its crust, 
which are eaten away by the fires of the earth. The 
sweat of his face is the raindrops which fall from 
the sky, and the bread he eats is the clouds, which 
diminish as the raindrops fall. 1 And his life, that 
is, the lifetime of the earth, is to end, as it began, in 

* What gives additional effect to this remarkable sym- 
bolism, is that the clouds are so often seen piled up like 
heaps of rounded loaves in the sky, 
6 



82 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the dust of the adamah, the elementary atoms out 
of which the earth was brought into existence. 

But death and life, like night and day, are alter- 
nate, and pass into each other; and just as in the 
beginning, light had its origin in the dark depths of 
the abyss, so, in the early period of the earth's history, 
when its sunlike brightness had died out, it is in 
the dark, inorganic matter, which represents the 
feminine element in its formation, that the light of 
life must necessarily begin. Therefore, the man calls 
his wife's name Hhavvah, "Source of life," because 
she is the mother of all living. And the statement 
that Yahveh-Elohim made coats of skin for the man 
and his wife, and put them on them, is descriptive 
of the formation of the crust of the earth, which is 
a sign both of the darkness of death, and of the life 
that is latent in all earthly matter. 

22. And Yahveh-Elohim saith, Behold, the man 
hath become as one of us, 1 to know good and evil; 
and, now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also 
of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever, — ■ 

The abrupt breaking off of the utterance denotes 
a transposition in the seat of the tree of life. At 
first this tree was the sunlike light of the luminous 
earth, and when that disappeared, the symbolism 
passed to the sun, by whose vitalizing rays the dark 
earth was to rejoice in the light of life. This is 
shown by a great event which occurred at this time. 
The moon, which was formed of the dark earth, and 

1 That is, of the two sides of the Divine nature. The 
reference is to Yahveh, the God of law, who determines 
between light and darkness, good and evil. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 83 

still connected with it, was on the verge of mounting 
upwards to the sky, where her dark body, bright 
with the light of the sun, made her the sign of the 
dark earth bright with the light of life. It is when 
this event is beginning to take place that Yahveh- 
Elohim is speaking, and the abrupt breaking off of 
his words is the sign of the moon's breaking off from 
the earth. 

23. And Yahveh-Elohim sendeth him forth 
from the garden of Eden to till the ground from 
which he hath been taken. 

This applies both to the typical man and his sign 
the moon; and has reference to the breaking and 
grinding down of the hard black mountains and rocks 
of the earth's surface, by the lower part of the moon's 
body, which, like a great drag, was still in contact 
with the earth, as she began to roll around it. But, 
as the moon was driven further away, the long drag- 
ging part was broken asunder, and the moon rose 
upwards to the sky. 1 And this removes the veil of 
mystery from the symbolism of the next verse: 

24. And he driveth out the man, and he placeth 
at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and 
the shining sword which turns itself round to keep 
the way of the tree of life. 

The cherubim are symbolic conceptions of the 
two hemispheres of darkness and light, 2 and the shin- 

1 For the full account of the phenomena connected with 
the formation of the moon and her becoming an orb of light, 
see the interpretation of the tenth chapter. 

2 I have now a work partly written which will give a 



84 The Biblical Account of Creation 

ing sword which turns itself round is the crescent- 
shaped blade of light on the edge of the new moon, 
which smites the power of darkness, 1 and keeps 
the way to the tree of life, which is the life-giving 
sun. 

GENESIS IV 

i . And the man hath known Hhavvah his wife, 
and she conceiveth and beareth Cain [Qayin], 
and saith, I have gotten a man with Yahveh. 

2. And again she beareth his brother Abel 
[Habel]. And Abel is a feeder of flocks, but Cain 
is a tiller of the ground. 

3. And it cometh to pass at the end of days 
that Cain bringeth of the fruit of the ground an 
offering unto Yahveh. 

4. And Abel, he also hath brought of the first- 
lings of his flock, and of their choice ones. And 
Yahveh looketh unto Abel and to his offering : 

5. But unto Cain and to his offering he hath 
not looked; and Cain is very wroth, and his coun- 
tenance falleth. 

6. And Yahveh saith unto Cain, Why art 
thou wroth ? and why is thy countenance fallen ? 

7. If thou doest well, is there not a lifting up? 
and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door: 

complete interpretation of the imagery of the cherubim as 
they appear in the symbolism of the Bible. 

1 The sword with which the Babylonian god Merodach is 
armed in his great conflict with the dragon of darkness 
is shown by the cylinders and bas-reliefs to have been curved 
like a sickle. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 85 

and unto thee is its desire, but thou shalt rule over 
it. 

8. And Cain saith unto Abel his brother, 

And it cometh to pass when they are in the field, 
that Cain riseth up against Abel his brother, and 
slayeth him. 

9. And Yahveh saith unto Cain, Where is 
Abel thy brother? And he saith, I know not: 
am I my brother's keeper? 

10. And he saith, What hast thou done? the 
voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from 
the ground. 

Here the statement, "The man hath known Hhav- 
vah his wife," has reference to the effect the rapid 
rotation of the earth had upon the molten matter 
with which the great fiery gulf was filled, and which 
was connected with the symbolism of the woman. 
This had been constantly increasing, and after her 
formation, its excessive rapidity burst open the solidi- 
fying surface and threw up a great mass of molten 
matter and of the dark crust of the earth. And this 
is Cain. Accordingly, the woman says, "I have 
gotten a man with Yahveh"; for Yahveh is the God 
of law and order, who governs the phenomena of 
the earth's movements. The name of Cain signifies 
"the gotten one," and he is the seed of the woman 
which is to bruise the serpent's head. 

The continued action of the same cause after- 
wards brought forth another body of molten matter, 
of less size, but brighter than the former; and this 
is Abel (Heb. Habel, the weak one). The flocks 
he feeds are the heaps and hillocks of glowing matter, 



86 The Biblical Account of Creation 

which spread in all directions around him, and 
whose brightness is acceptable to the God of light. 
Hence Yahveh looks with favour on the offering of 
Abel, and not on the offering of Cain, which con- 
sists of parts of the dark crust of the earth, and 
signifies a connection with evil. 

"And Cain is very wroth and his countenance 
falleth. ,, This, when rendered in the strict literal 
sense of the Hebrew words, is, "And to Cain it 
burnetii all round about, and his countenance falleth," 
that is, becomes dark and threatening. 

Yahveh's question as to his doing well, or not 
well, has reference to his course from this time 
on. If it be in accordance with the light of heaven, 
there will be a lifting up; and if not, "sin," 1 that 
is, the power of the dark earth to hold him by its 
gravity, "lieth at the door." This power is great, 
but he is to overcome it. 

The words of Cain to Abel his brother are not 
given; for while he is on the point of speaking, with 
his mighty weight pressing upon Abel, the crust of 
the earth gives way, and the blood of Abel, which 
is a flood of liquid fire, is poured out upon the ground. 2 
This explains the door or opening spoken of by 
Yahveh, and it is the turning-point in Cain's history. 

The punishment which Yahveh pronounces upon 
Cain is the direct result of the act he has committed : 

1 The Hebrew term is chattath, the radical meaning of 
which is "a miss, a misstep, a shooting in a wrong direction'* 
(Ges., Lex.). 

2 Abel represents the last light of the tree of life as sym- 
bolized by the luminous earth; hence he is spoken of as 
the "righteous Abel" (Matt, xxiii. 35), and is slain by Cain, 
who represents the tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 87 

11. Cursed art thou from the ground, which 
hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's 
blood from thy hand. 

12. When thou tillest the ground, it doth not 
henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive 
and a wanderer thou art in the earth. 

13. And Cain saith unto Yahveh, My punish- 
ment is greater than I can bear. 

14. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day 
from the face of the ground; and from thy face I 
am hid; and I am a fugitive and a wanderer in 
the earth; and it is that whosoever findeth me 
doth slay me. 

15. And Yahveh saith unto him, Therefore 
whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance is required 
sevenfold. And Yahveh appointed a sign for 
Cain, that none finding him should slay him. 

Seven (3 -f 4) is the sign of the upper world of light, 1 
and he who slays Cain, the typical representative of 
the dark earth and the lower world, by that very act 
necessarily makes a sevenfold avengement. 

16. And Cain goeth forth from the presence of 
Yahveh, and dwelleth in the land of Nod, on the 
east of Eden. 

The land of Nod derives its name from the verb 
nud t which signifies (i) "to move up and down, to 
and fro, to be shaken"; (2) "to be driven about, to 
wander"; and tied, another derivation from the same 

1 See the diagram in Appendix I. on the Symbolism of 
Numbers. 



88 The Biblical Account of Creation 

root, denotes "a heap, a mound, so called from 
the waving and trembling motion of clay, mud, etc." 
These definitions of the lexicon (Ges.), which are 
embodied in the name of the land of Nod, describe 
most strikingly the condition of the unstable surface 
of the earth when Cain became a wanderer upon it. 

17. And Cain knoweth his wife, and she 
conceiveth, and bareth Enoch [Hhanoch]; and 
he buildeth a city, and calleth the name of the 
city after the name of his son Enoch. 

Cain's wife is the lower part of the unstable, 
shifting body which bears his name; and she is to 
him what the lower side of the earth was to Adam. 
As the increasing rapidity of the earth's rotation 
caused a gradual rising up of the great moving 
body, the part connecting it with the earth con- 
tracted, and the lower end formed a second and 
smaller mountain-like body; and this is the son which 
Cain's wife bears to him. Around it there was a 
great ring formed by broken rocks, and fragments 
of the earth's crust; and this is the city which Cain 
built, 1 and called after the name of his son, — Enoch, 
which denotes what is dedicated, the dedication being, 
as the symbolism shows, to the dark earth. 

18. And unto Enoch is born Irad: and Irad 
begetteth Mehuyael; and Mehuyael begetteth 
Methushael; and Methushael begetteth Lamek. 

The name Irad, which denotes a young wild ass, 
an animal restless of restraint, is descriptive of the 

1 Gesenius describes the primitive city as "a place, en- 
closure, surrounded by a mound or wall." 



The Biblical Account of Creation 89 

efforts which the great unstable body made to move 
about upon the earth. 

Irad is followed by Mehuyael, whose name is de- 
rived from the verb tnachah, " to strike, to rub down, " 
and thus to destroy or remove by striking and abra- 
sion; and it is descriptive of the breaking off of the 
great angular projections of the shifting body, by the 
tossings and overturnings which reduced it to a 
roughly rounded shape. Hence his name may be 
taken to signify, "Shapen by El." 1 

The approach to a spherical shape made by the mov- 
ing body in the time of Mehuyael is completed in his 
son Methushael, "the man of El," whose symbol is a 
sphere. Hence the occurrence in the middle of his 
name of the letter Shin, which is the sign of Shemesh, 
the full-orbed sun; and the numerical value of this 
letter, 300, makes the number of Methushael's name 
to be 777, the highest symbological form of seven, 
which was given as a sign to Cain, that he should 
not perish. 

The reader has, no doubt, now begun to see that the 
history of Cain is the history of the origin and forma- 
tion of the moon. The further phenomena described 

1 In this the principle of law and order is to some extent 
involved, which implies the co-operation of Yahveh; and 
it is to indicate this that the name of Mehuyael is here 
written in two ways, first, with the letter Vau (=6) after 

Heth, /%Js inD ; and then, with a dagheshed Yodh (= 20) 

after Heth, /&$^nQ, the number denoted by these two 
•• t- : 

letters, twenty-six, being the number of Yahveh's name, and 

the sign of his co-operation in the phenomena connected with 

Mehuyael. 



90 The Biblical Account of Creation 

in this astonishing and marvellous narrative, I will 
explain in connection with the history of Lamek, 
whose name denotes one who is young and strong. 

19. Lamek taketh unto him two wives: the 
name of the one is Adah, and the name of the other 
Tzillah. 

20. And Adah bareth Yabal: he is the father 
of those who dwell in tents and have flocks. 

21. And the name of his brother is Yubal: 
he is the father of all handling harp and pipe. 

22. And Tzillah, she also beareth Tubal-Cain, 
forger of all cutting things of copper and iron: 
and the sister of Tubal-Cain is Naamah. 

The two wives of Lamek, Adah and Tzillah, are 
faint conceptions of the light and darkness, which 
appear in the symbolism of Cain. Adah, whose 
name is significant of passing beauty, is the soft 
light of the sky seen around the upper part of the 
great body, and which is soon to disappear; and 
Tzillah, the dusky one, is the darkness at its base. 
Hence Adah gives birth to Yabal, whose name 
signifies "a flowing," and it is he who brings the 
first visible clouds into existence around its lofty 
summit; the canopy they form overhead is the tent 
of the dweller, and the light clouds around it are 
the fleecy flocks. 

The name of his brother Yubal is derived also 
from the verb yabal, "to flow," and has reference 
to the flowing of sounds, as in music. Hence Yubal 
is "the father of all handling harp and pipe"; by 
which is here meant the sounds produced by the 
crushing and grinding of the great moving body, 



The Biblical Account of Creation 91 

and the continuous roaring of blazing fires and 
volcanic vents. 

The son of the dusky Tzillah is Tubal-Cain, that 
is, Tubal the pounder (from Qin, to beat, to pound) ; 
hence he is described as the forger, or hammerer-out 
of all cutting things of copper and iron. But Tubal 
itself is derived from the root tub, " to turn back, to 
return"; and Tubal-Cain is the returning pounder, 
the great body which is now whirling around the 
earth, but not altogether clear of it, and striking- 
it from time to time. The "cutting things of copper 
and iron" are the hills and ridges of hard rock, red 
with internal heat or black from the burnt-out fires, 
with which the moon cut down the great mountains 
of the dark earth, as she swept around it. 

Naamah, the lovely one, the sister of Tubal-Cain, 
is the moon when she rises clear of the earth, as a 
spherical body, wrapped in a covering of white, 
fleecy clouds, 1 ascending to the sky. And this is 
the reason why the sister of Tubal-Cain is mentioned 
this once, and never afterwards. 

23. And Lamek saith unto his wives: 
Adah and Tzillah, hear my voice; 

Ye wives of Lamek, give ear to what I say : 
I have slain a man to my wounding, 
And a young man to my hurt. 

24. Because sevenfold is the vengeance for Cain, 
For Lamek it is seventy and sevenfold. 

The first step in the interpretation of this hitherto 
inexplicable song takes us back to Tubal-Cain. He 

1 In this we have the origin of the rabbinical story which 
ascribed to Naamah the invention of spinning wool. 



92 The Biblical Account of Creation 

is described as being "a forger of all cutting things 
of copper and iron"; and these, as I have shown, 
are the hills and ridges of hard rock, with which 
the moon cut down the great mountains of the 
earth, and channelled its incinerated surface. But 
a like effect was produced in turn in the body of 
the moon by the mountains and ridges of the earth; 
and this twofold action is described in the twofold 
meaning of the word choresh, which denotes both a 
cutting instrument, and the cutting made. 

This cutting, like the action of Cain in crushing 
the weaker Abel, is described as slaughter; and the 
man whom Lamek has slain to his own wounding 
is the dark earth; and the young man is his own son, 
Tubal-Cain, who is slain to (or for) his father's hurt. 
The word here rendered "hurt" is chaburath, which 
is derived from chabar, a root signifying (i) to be 
joined together; (2) to bind with a spell; and (3) to be 
marked with lines or stripes, or the bruises made by 
blows, — all of which are present in the phenomena 
which the word is intended to describe. In the first 
stage, the* earth and its associate body are joined 
together; in the second, they are held by the spell of 
gravity; and the third is seen in mountain ridges and 
long lines of rocky hills and valleys. 

In this great conflict and its result, we have the 
fulfilment of the promise made to the woman, that 
her seed should bruise the head of the serpent, — 
the power of darkness and disorder that dominated 
the earth; and the serpent should bruise his heel, — the 
last part of the moon that left its broken fragments 
on the earth, as it rose to the heavens above. 

In this also the symbolism is twofold ; for the same 
Hebrew word that describes the action of the serpent, 



The Biblical Account of Creation 93 

describes also the action of his destroyer. The word 
is shuph, which, to use the definition of the lexicon 
(Ges.), signifies "to scrape, to rub; then to injure by 
rubbing, to bruise, to beat." This describes exactly 
the action of the moon in its abrading course around 
the earth, when it swept away the heads of the highest 
mountains and ground down beneath it the solid 
rocks of the hills. 

Finally, in the address of Lamek to his wives, 

the Aleph in the word n^T^n, haazenah, "Give 

ear, " is required by the authoritative massoretic 
note on the letter to be regarded as quiescent, that is, 
its power is to belong to the preceding letter He, 
which is the middle letter in the verse, and the sign of 
approaching light. The explanation of this symbol- 
ism and its significance is this: Aleph is the sign of 
Elohim, the God of nature, and, accordingly, the 
word in which this sign occurs is the tenth word of 
the verse, and ten denotes a cycle of the earth. The 
letter Aleph is also the sign of a new beginning, and 
therefore is the first letter of the latter half of the 
verse. This consists of seven words, the number 
which is the sign of the upper world of light, and of 
the preservation of Cain's life; and the quiescent 
Aleph denotes the point in the symbolism at which 
the moon begins to rise from the earth x on her way 
to become an orb of light. 

1 It is evident from its taking all the six generations of 
Cain, and from the many phases of the symbolism, that 
the moon was not thrown off from the earth, like a huge 
projectile; but that it was by a slow and gradual increase 
in the orbit of her revolution she reached her present height 
in the heavens. 



94 The Biblical Account of Creation 

During the long period which ended with this 
great event, other changes were taking place in the 
earth, which the narrative now describes: 

25. Adam knoweth his wife again, and she 
beareth a son, and calleth his name Sheth: For 
Elohim hath appointed to me another seed instead 
of Abel; for Cain had slain him. 

26. And to Sheth, to him also hath been born 
a son; and he calleth his name Enosh: then it 
began to be in the name of Yahveh. 

Sheth is the third son of Adam and his wife, and 
as such his birth is significant of the beginning of 
a period of stability and order in the earth. This is 
also signified by his name, Sheth, which is derived 
from the verb shith, "to set, to put, to place; to set 
in array, to found, to appoint with reference to some- 
thing that is to be permanent' 7 (Ges.). Hence the 
significance of the words, "Elohim hath appointed 
(shath) to me another seed instead of Abel." Sheth 
also denotes a buttock, and the birth of Sheth de- 
notes the formation of the buttocks of the earth, 
those solid parts which establish its strength. There- 
fore it is that Hhavvah here uses the name of Elohim, 
the God of strength, instead of the name of Yahveh. 
But the relation between the two is shown in the 
symbolism, by which the fully written name of 
Elohim is the twenty-sixth word from haazenah, in 
which the presence of Elohim is signified by the 
quiescent Aleph, the first letter of his name; and 
this number, twenty-six, is the numerical sign of 
Yahveh's name, and implies his co-operative presence. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 95 

Nor is this all. The name of Elohim is the twelfth 
word in the twenty-fifth verse, and twelve is the 
sign of a Yahvistic cycle; and, to crown all, there 
are just twenty-six verses in this Yahvistic chapter, 
and the last word is the name of Yahveh, who directs 
the revolutions by which law and order are estab- 
lished in the earth. And this is what is meant by 
the statement, "At that time it began to be in the 
name of Yahveh," that is, in accordance with the 
Yahvistic law of order. 

Just as Sheth was the buttocks or strong parts 
of the earth at the ends of its axis, his son Enosh 
was the intermediate part in the equatorial regions, 
where the crust of the earth was yet thin and weak, 
and easily disturbed by its quick rotation. Hence 
the meaning of his name, "the frail or weak one." 

In like manner the successive changes in the 
condition of the earth are represented by the names 
in the generations of Adam, given in the next chapter. 



GENESIS V 

1. This is the book of the generations of 
Adam. In the day that Elohim created Adam, 
in the likeness of Elohim he hath made him. 

2. Male and female he hath created them, 
and he blesseth them, and calleth their name 
Adam, in the day they were created. 

3. And Adam liveth a hundred and thirty 
years, and begetteth in his likeness, after his 
image; and calleth his name Sheth: 

4. And the days of Adam after his begetting 



96 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Sheth are eight hundred years, and he begetteth 
sons and daughters. 

5. And all the days of Adam which he lived 
are nine hundred and thirty years; and he dieth. 

6. And Sheth liveth a hundred and five years, 
and begetteth Enosh. 

7. And Sheth liveth after his begetting Enosh 
eight hundred and seven years, and begetteth 
sons and daughters. 

8. And all the days of Sheth are nine hundred 
and twelve years; and he dieth. 

9. And Enosh liveth ninety years, and be- 
getteth Cainan. 

10. And Enosh liveth after his begetting 
Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and 
begetteth sons and daughters. 

11. And all the days of Enosh are nine hun- 
dred and five years ; and he dieth. 

12. And Cainan liveth seventy years, and 
begetteth Mahalalel. 

13. And Cainan liveth after his begetting 
Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and 
begetteth sons and daughters. 

14. And all the days of Cainan are nine hun- 
dred and ten years ; and he dieth. 

15. And Mahalalel liveth sixty and five years, 
and begetteth Yared. 

16. And Mahalalel liveth after his begetting 
Yared eight hundred and thirty years, and 
begetteth sons and daughters. 

17. And all the days of Mahalalel are eight 



The Biblical Account of Creation 97 

hundred and ninety and five years; and he 
dieth. 

18. And Yared liveth a hundred sixty and 
two years, and begetteth Enoch. 

19. And Yared liveth after his begetting 
Enoch eight hundred years, and begetteth sons 
and daughters. 

20. And all the days of Yared are nine hun- 
dred sixty and two years; and he dieth. 

21. And Enoch liveth sixty and five years, 
and begetteth Methushelah. 

22. And Enoch walketh with the Elohim after 
his begetting Methushelah three hundred years, 
and begetteth sons and daughters. 

23. And all the days of Enoch are [Heb. is] 
three hundred sixty and five years. 

24. And Enoch walketh with the Elohim: and 
he is not; for Elohim hath taken him. 

25. And Methushelah liveth a hundred eighty 
and seven years, and begetteth Lamek. 

26. And Methushelah liveth after his beget- 
ting Lamek seven hundred eighty and two years, 
and begetteth sons and daughters. 

27. And all the days of Methushelah are 
nine hundred sixty and nine years; and he dieth. 

28. And Lamek liveth a hundred eighty and 
two years, and begetteth a son. 

29. And he calleth his name Noah, saying, 
This doth give us comfort for our works, and 
for the toil of our hands, because of the ground 
which Yahveh hath cursed. 



98 The Biblical Account of Creation 

30. And Lamek liveth after his begetting 
Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and 
begetteth sons and daughters. 

31. And all the days of Lamek are seven 
hundred seventy and seven years; and he dieth. 

32. And Noah is five hundred years old: and 
Noah begetteth Shem, Ham, and Yapheth. 

From what has been said above of the origin and 
history of Cain, it is easy to understand how the 
names of his descendants should resemble so closely 
those of the descendants of Adam as given in the 
book of his generations, and in two instances should 
be exactly the same. 

Adam's begetting sons and daughters is descrip- 
tive of the changes which took place in the surface 
of the earth, some parts being upheaved, which are 
the sons, and other parts depressed, which are the 
daughters. And when the conditions connected with 
his name end, he dies. And so of all the other 
patriarchs. 

The connection of Sheth with the physical forma- 
tion of the earth, I have already explained; and also 
that of Enosh, whose name is descriptive of the first 
weak crust of the equatorial parts of the earth. The 
name of his son, Cainan, is closely connected with 
Cain, the smiter, and is descriptive of the earth's 
crust at a later time, when it had increased in thick- 
ness, but was yet unable to resist the undulatory 
action caused by the earth's rotation, and the violent 
upheavals and explosions from internal disturbances, 
by which it was broken to pieces, which were driven 
one against another. 

Mahalalel is the fifth in the generations of Adam, 



The Biblical Account of Creation 99 

and, in accordance with the symbolism of the number 
five, his name is significant of strength and bright- 
ness. During the occurrence of the events already 
described, changes had been taking place in the con- 
dition of the atmosphere which surrounded the earth. 
The immense volumes of volcanic dust and ashes had 
begun to disappear, the glowing orb of the sun was 
seen surrounded with fiery clouds, and when he sank 
beneath the horizon, innumerable blazing meteors 
and luminous vapours encircled the earth with light. 
Thus it was that the fifth of the great patriarchs re- 
ceived the name of Mahalalel, "the brightness of El." 

With this his son Yared is also closely connected; 
for round about the earth, and in the regions of space 
traversed by it, the heavens were ablaze with great 
meteors which were continually falling in countless 
numbers upon the earth. Hence the name of Yared, 
which means a descending or falling down. 

In course of time the blazing meteors diminished 
greatly in numbers, the sky was becoming clear, and 
the sun increasing in brightness. Thus the earth 
was brought into a closer connection, as it were, with 
the etherial heavens, through which it passed in 
making its circuit round the sun. This connection 
corresponds to the dedication of a building to the 
heavenly powers, and therefore the name of the 
seventh patriarch is Enoch, which means " dedica- 
tion. " Physically, Enoch is the air — the breath of 
life — which surrounds the earth and blends with the 
infinitely subtile elements of space, which are imme- 
diately connected with the spirit of Elohim. There- 
fore it is said that " Enoch walketh with the Elohim 1 ; 

1 This is the first time that the name of Elohim is written 
with the article He, which is here a sign in the symbolism. 



ioo The Biblical Account of Creation 

and he is not, for Elohim hath taken him." Again: 
the sun is the symbol of Elohim, with whom Enoch 
walked; and, consequently, "all the days of Enoch 
are three hundred sixty and five years," a number 
which coincides with that of the days in the earth's 
revolution around the sun. And it is to indicate 
the equivalence in the symbolism of one day to a 
year, that the sacred text has, " all the days of Enoch 
is" and not are, as the grammatical relation requires. 

Notwithstanding the increased thickness of the 
crust of the earth, it was rent in numberless places 
by fissures and cavities connected with its internal 
fires, and everywhere perforated with volcanic vents, 
from which it was continually sending forth frag- 
ments of fiery rocks, and darting flames. This was 
the state of the earth during the days of the son 
of Enoch; and hence he is named Methushelah, 
"the man of the dart." And, accordingly, the days 
of Methushelah ended with the flood, when the 
darting flames were extinguished by the waters. 

The name of Lamek, as already explained, denotes 
a union of youth and strength, and is appropriately 
given to the strong young earth. This approach 
to a stable condition finds expression in the name 
he gives his son, Noah, which signifies "rest" 
and conveys also the sense of comforting. Like 
Lamek the Cainite, Noah has three sons, — Shem, 
Ham, and Yapheth. Shem represents the highest 
and oldest parts of the earth's surface, Ham the 
dark plutonic parts, and Yapheth, as his name 
signifies, the spreading lands which beautify the 
earth. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that the numbers 
connected with the lives of the Adamic patriarchs 



The Biblical Account of Creation 101 

are symbolic signs indicating the character and 
duration of the conditions described by their names. 

GENESIS VI 

i. And it cometh to pass that men have begun 
to multiply on the face of the ground, and 
daughters have been born unto them. 

2. And sons of the Elohim see the daughters 
of men that they are fair, and they take to 
themselves wives of all whom they have chosen. 

3. And Yahveh saith, My spirit doth not 
strive with man for ever: in their erring he 
is flesh; and his days shall be a hundred and 
twenty years. 

4. There were giants in the earth in those 
days, and also after that when sons of the Elohim 
come in unto the daughters of men, and they 
bare unto them : these are the mighty ones which 
are from of old, men of renown. 

I have already stated in the interpretation of the 
fourth verse of the preceding chapter, that the sons 
and daughters of Adam are parts of the earth's 
surface, and are represented by hills and hollows. 
The sons of the Elohim are the bright meteoric 
bodies which fell down from the heavens, and the 
beautiful daughters of the Adam with whom they 
united themselves are the open cavities of the earth, 
bright with internal fires. 

It was a period typical of disorder and wicked- 
ness, and therefore displeasing to Yahveh. "And 
Yahveh saith, My spirit doth not strive with man 



102 The Biblical Account of Creation 

for ever: in their erring he is flesh; and his days 
shall be a hundred and twenty years." This is a 
symbolic number produced by the sign of the cycle 
of the earth, ten, and the sign of the cycle of the 
sun and moon, twelve, multiplied together; and it 
denotes that the present struggle between the powers 
of order and the powers of disorder and destruction 
will continue only for a time. 

The great rapidity of the earth's rotation was 
throwing up the molten matter beneath its surface 
in wave-like movements, which broke the crust to 
pieces, piled in huge and scattered heaps. It was 
necessary to prevent this work of destruction by 
causes which would increase the strength of the 
earth's crust, and check the rapidity of its rotation. 
This could be done by bringing a great flood of 
waters upon the earth, and by the retarding tides 
which would be produced by the attraction of the 
sun and moon. Hence the introduction of the sign 
of their cycle in the symbolism. The molten matter, 
which formed the underside of the crust of the earth, 
is the "flesh" which yielded easily to the destruc- 
tive power of its rotation; and it is the same as that 
with which Elohim closed up the side of Adam. 

The "giants" or nephilim which were upon the 
earth in those days are the remains of its original 
fires which still issue from unclosed outlets in its 
surface, and appear as towering forms of flame. 
Akin to them are the gibborim, "the mighty ones," 
which the daughters of the Adam bare to the sons 
of the Elohim, and which are the volcanic mountains 
with their heads of fire. This makes clear the mean- 
ing of the statement that the nephilim were upon 
the earth before that time and also afterwards. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 103 

5. And Yahveh seeth that the wickedness of 
man is great in the earth, and that every imagi- 
nation of the thoughts of his heart is only evil 
continually. 

6. And Yahveh repenteth that he hath made 
man on the earth, and it grieveth him at his 
heart. 

7. And Yahveh saith, I will destroy man 
whom I have created off the face of the ground; 
both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and 
fowl of the heavens; for I repent that I have 
made them. 

8. But Noah findeth grace in the eyes of 
Yahveh. 

The word math, rendered " wickedness' * above, is 
derived from the root raa y the primary meaning of 
which is "to break, to break in pieces"; and hence 
the meaning of wickedness. It is descriptive here 
of the broken and confused condition of the earth's 
crust, which resulted from internal disturbances; and 
this is what is meant by the statement, "every im- 
agination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil 
continually. " Man and beast and creeping thing, 
which Yahveh declares he will destroy, are figura- 
tive expressions for objects on the earth's surface; 
and the fowl of the heavens are masses of flaming 
matter thrown up by its innumerable volcanic vents 
high overhead, and falling again upon it. 

9. These are the generations of Noah. Noah 
is a righteous man, and perfect in his genera- 
tions: and Noah hath walked with the Elohim. 



104 The Biblical Account of Creation 

10. And Noah begetteth three sons, Shem, 
Ham, and Yapheth. 

ii. And the earth is corrupt before the 
Elohim, and the earth is filled with violence. 

12. And Elohim seeth the earth, and, behold, 
it is corrupt; for all flesh hath corrupted its way 
upon the earth. 

13. And Elohim saith unto Noah, The end 
of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is 
filled with violence through them: and, behold, 
I will destroy them with the earth. 

It has already been shown in the interpretation 
of the fifth chapter, that Noah is a conception of the 
earth; and his name, which is significant of rest, was 
given to denote that in his days the earth should 
have rest and peace. Here, in connection with this 
figurative impersonation, it is stated that he is "a 
righteous man, and perfect in his generations." The 
word rendered " generations" is dor, which is derived 
from the verb dur, " to move round in a circle, to 
go round"; and dor is clearly intended to describe 
the rotation of the earth on its axis, and its revo- 
lution around the sun. And, what gives additional 
significance to this, the word dor occurs here for 
the first time. The word tzaddiq, "righteous, up- 
right," may also be regarded as signifying that the 
earth's axis at that time was perpendicular (or 
nearly so) to the plane of its orbit; for Noah was 
perfect in his generations (literally, "in his turn- 
ings"), and thus Noah, like Enoch, "walked with 
the Elohim." 

The Hebrew word used to describe the corrupt 



The Biblical Account of Creation 105 

state of the earth is tischath, which primarily means 
" a casting down"; and it has reference to the casting 
down of great masses of rock into the yawning gulfs 
made by the contraction of the earth's crust, and 
to the sinking of its surface into great hollows rent 
with fissures and chasms. 

In the part of the narrative just given, there is a 
marked difference between what is said of Yahveh 
and what is said of Elohim. But it is purely sym- 
bological, and in accordance with the twofold in- 
terpretation which the narrative requires. Yahveh, 
the God of law and order, "seeth that the wicked- 
ness of man is great in the earth, and that every 
imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only 
evil continually. And Yahveh repenteth that he 
hath made man.' 1 " And Yahveh saith, I will de- 
stroy man whom I have created off the face of the 
ground; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, 
and jowl of the heavens." But Elohim, the God of 
material nature, never mentions man. It is "the 
earth which is corrupt before Elohim," and it is 
"the earth which is filled with violence." Man and 
beast are spoken of only as " flesh," and they are 
to be destroyed with the earth. And it is Elohim, 
who is going to destroy the earth, who gives Noah 
the command to build the ark: 

14. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; cells 
shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it 
within and without with pitch. 

15. And this is how thou shalt make it: the 
length of the ark, three hundred cubits, the 
breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty 
cubits. 



106 The Biblical Account of Creation 

1 6. A light shalt thou make to the ark, and 
to a cubit shalt thou finish it from above; and 
the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side 
thereof; with lower, second, and third [stories] 
shalt thou make it. 

17. And I, behold, I do bring the flood of 
waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein 
is the breath of life, from under the heavens; 
every thing that is in the earth shall die. 

18. But I will establish my covenant with 
thee, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, 
and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives 
with thee. 

19. And of every living thing of all flesh, 
two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, 
to keep them alive with thee: they shall be male 
and female. 

20. Of the fowl after their kind, and of the 
cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing 
of the ground after its kind, two of every sort 
shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. 

21. And take thou unto thee of all food that 
is eaten, and gather it to thee: and it shall be 
for food for thee and for them. 

22. And Noah doth according to all that 
Elohim commandeth him, so hath he done. 

Just here it is enough to say of the ark that it is 
a symbolic conception; but attention must be spe- 
cially directed to the statement, "I do bring the 
flood of waters upon the earth/ ' The word for 
" flood/ ' mabbul y occurs here for the first time; and 



The Biblical Account of Creation 107 

yet it is spoken of as "the flood" (hammabbul) , as 
of an event about which something was already 
known. This shows that there were already in the 
heavens signs of its coming, of which I will speak 
hereafter. But a few points in the symbolism of 
the narrative may here be noticed. 

The number of the chapter, six, is the sign of the 
earth in a state of disorder and confusion; and in 
keeping with the punishment which Elohim, the God 
of nature, has just pronounced upon it, it ends with 
the twenty-second verse, a number which is the sign 
of midnight, and of the dark waters of death. But 
it is also the turning-point towards the dawn, as 
the ark of safety signifies. 

This completes the interpretation of the sixth 
chapter; and, in accordance with the twofold char- 
acter of the symbolism, it is evident that at this 
point the narrative must pass from Elohim to Yahveh. 
Therefore the next chapter, the number of which, 
seven, is a Yahvistic sign, begins with Yahveh taking 
up Elohim 's words, and repeating the command to 
Noah and his house to enter the ark. 

GENESIS VII 

1. And Yahveh saith unto Noah, Come thou 
and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I 
seen righteous before me in this generation. 

2. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to 
thee seven and seven, the male and his female; 
and of the beasts that are not clean two, the 
male and his female. 

3. Of the fowl also of the heavens, seven and 



108 The Biblical Account of Creation 

seven, male and female, to keep seed alive upon 
the face of the earth. 

4. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to 
rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; 
and every erect thing that I have made will I 
destroy from off the face of the ground. 

5. And Noah doth according to all that 
Yahveh commandeth him. 

6. And Noah is six hundred years old, when 
the flood of waters is upon the earth. 

7. And Noah goeth in, and his sons, and his 
wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, 
because of the waters of the flood. 

8. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not 
clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that 
creepeth upon the ground, 

9. Two by two they have come in unto Noah 
into the ark, a male and a female, as Elohim 
hath commanded Noah. 

10. And it cometh to pass after the seven 
days, that the waters of the flood are upon the 
earth. 

11. In the sixth hundredth year of Noah's 
life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day 
of the month, on this day have all the foun- 
tains of the great deep been broken up, and the 
windows of the heavens been opened. 

12. And the rain is upon the earth forty days 
and forty nights. 

13. In the selfsame day went in Noah, and 
Shem, and Ham, and Yapheth, the sons of 



The Biblical Account of Creation 109 

Noah, and Noah's wife, and the wives of his sons 
with them, into the ark. 

14. They, and every beast after its kind, and 
all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping 
thing that is creeping upon the earth after its 
kind, and every fowl after its kind, — every bird, 
every wing. 

15. And they come in unto Noah into the ark 
two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of 
life. 

16. And they that come in, male and female 
of all flesh, have come in as Elohim hath com- 
manded him, and Yahveh shutteth him in. 

It may seem to some that the Yahvistic command 
to Noah to bring the clean beasts "seven and seven'' 
into the ark is inconsistent with the command of 
Elohim to bring all living creatures in by "twos" a 
male and a female. But there is no contradiction 
nor inconsistency whatever between them. As I 
have all along pointed out, there is an Elohistic 
symbolism and a Yahvistic symbolism. They often 
coincide and pass into each other, but still they have 
a distinct character and their appropriate signs. 
Thus Elohim, the God of nature, makes no distinction 
between clean beasts and those which are unclean: 
he recognizes only the natural difference of male and 
female, and these are to be taken in twos, one of each 
sex. Yahveh also commands that all beasts are to 
be taken in twos or pairs, of those which are not 
clean, one pair, and of those which are clean, seven 
pairs. And the reason for this is, that two is the 
sign of the lower world and darkness, with which 



no The Biblical Account of Creation 

uncleanness is connected, and seven a sign of the 
upper world of light, which is significant of what 
is clean. The seven twos is a beautiful example of 
the blending of the Yahvistic and the Elohistic 
symbolism. 

The flood marked the completion of the first great 
period in the history of the earth; and, accordingly, 
the verse which records the beginning of the flood, 
" It cometh to pass after the seven days, that the 
waters of the flood are upon the earth, " is the tenth 
verse of the chapter, a number which is the sign 
of a completed cycle of the earth. And not only 
that, but the word "seven" also occurs in the verse, 
pointing to seventeen (10 + 7); and seventeen is the 
number of the verse in the preceding chapter in 
which Elohim first makes known his purpose of 
bringing the flood upon the earth; and it is on "the 
seventeenth day of the second month' ' that the foun- 
tains of the great deep are broken up, and the windows 
of the heavens are opened. 

These numbers are really of a symbological char- 
acter ; but they have also reference to the Babylonian 
seasons, and "the second month" is the second of 
the Babylonian year, which began in the latter part 
of September, and corresponds to the eighth month 
of the sacred Hebrew year, which was the month 
Bui, that is, "the month of rain" And to this there 
is a reference in the name of the flood, mabbul. 

The number of the next verse is twelve, the sign of 
a Yahvistic cycle; and just as the tenth verse marked 
the completion of the earthly or Elohistic cycle, 
by the statement, "The waters of the flood are upon 
the earth," the twelfth verse marks the completion 
of the Yahvistic cycle by the corresponding state- 



The Biblical Account of Creation m 

ment, "The rain is upon the earth forty days and 
forty nights. M And the twofold character of this 
symbolism is clearly and pointedly expressed in the 
last verse of the section: " And they that came in, 
male and female of all flesh, have come as Elohim 
hath commanded him, and Yahveh shutteth him in." 

As I stated above, all this symbolism has to do 
with the earth and the orblike body of the new-made 
moon. The connection between this and the waters 
of the flood existed long before they reached their 
present condition; and its beginning was in the days 
of Yubal, when the summit of the great unshapen 
mass was surrounded by a gathering of white fleecy 
clouds, which furnished the symbolism of the tent 
and the flocks. 

During a long period of time, as the great heat 
of the earth lessened, the clouds increased in volume 
and density, till the whole heavens were covered 
with darkness, and the waters of the great flood 
were about to fall down upon the earth. Hence 
Elohim speaks of "the flood, " as a known and ex- 
pected event, corresponding to the indications of 
a great storm at the present day. It was at this 
time that Elohim commanded Noah to build the 
ark: 

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; cells shalt 
thou make in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it 
within and without with pitch. 

And this is how thou shalt make it : the length 
of the ark, three hundred cubits, the breadth of 
it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 

A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a 



ii2 The Biblical Account of Creation 

cubit shalt thou finish it from above; and the 
door of the ark thou shalt set in the side thereof; 
with lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou 
make it. 

The gopher wood of which the ark was to be 
made is the wood of the cypress, a tree which 
is connected with darkness; and it is here a sym- 
bolic term for the dark crust of the earth and the 
moon, which as yet was a part of the earth, but on 
the verge of separating from it. The edge of her 
disc, which now appears as a crescent of light, is the 
ark, 1 and the dark round body within it is the typical 
symbol of the earth. 

The cells which are to be made in it are the cells 
in which all life, vegetable and animal, has its origin. 
And this is beautifully symbolized in the Hebrew 
word here used, ken, which denotes both a cell and 
a bird's nest, the birthplace of life. Again: ken 
is closely connected both by paranomasia and in 
the symbolism with Cain; and here it must be remem- 
bered that Hhawah (Eve) , the first opaque matter of 
the earth, was the mother of all life, and that Cain 
is her seed. But in a more restricted sense, the 
" cells' ' are the fiery cavities in the crust of the 
earth, in which, as we shall see, the first protoplastic 
matter had its origin. The word rendered "pitch" 

i It is important to point out here the striking and beau- 
tiful connection in the symbolism, in the account of the 
formation of the moon in the fourth chapter (vv. 16-22) 
which ends with her appearance as a crescent of light (Naa- 
mah), and the account here of the building of the ark, which 
begins with the crescent at the same point, when it first 
appeared in the new-made moon. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 113 

is kaphar, "to cover," and the literal meaning of 
the command is, "Thou shalt cover it within and 
without with a covering.' ' And this covering is the 
black clouds which enwrapped the earth and the 
moon. 

The numbers denoting the dimensions of the ark — 
300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high 
— are symbolic signs, and have reference to the 
Babylonian division of the circle. This was into six 
sections of 60 degrees each; consequently, with a 
circumference of 300 cubits, the section is 50 cubits, 
the breadth of the ark. Its length, 300, is just ten 
times the height of the ark, 30 cubits; and the waters 
covered the tops of the mountains 15 cubits, that 
is, half the height of the ark. This brings to light 
another important point in the symbolism; for 300 + 
50 + 15, is 365, the number of days in a solar year, 
which was the symbolic time the flood lasted. 

But while the length of the circumference, 300, is 
the product of 30 multiplied by ten, the number of 
degrees in the circumference is the product of 30 
multiplied by twelve; and these two numbers, ten 
and twelve, are signs of the Elohistic and the Yahvistic 
symbolism. 

What the tzohar or light was, which Noah was 
commanded to make to the ark, and to finish it to 
a cubit from above, can now be explained. The 
black clouds from which the flood of waters was to 
burst covered the earth on each side, north and 
south, and rose to a great height in mid heaven, 
around and above the ark. As the earth and moon 
conjointly revolved around their common axis from 
west to east, a partial opening was made in the dark 
clouds overhead, and the tzohar was in the mid 



ii4 The Biblical Account of Creati^a 

heavens where the clouds were less dark and dense, 
and the light of the sun shone faintly as through 
an orifice, described as a cubit in size. The door- 
way at the side of the ark is also the opening in the 
dark clouds made in the same way on the eastern 
side of the earth. The three stories of the ark are 
the part connected with the earth, the part sub- 
merged in the waters of the flood, and tfcfe 4 ft 
which rose above them, where the crescent of light 
first appeared. 

17. And the flood is forty days upon the 
earth, and the waters increase, and bear up the 
ark, and it is lifted up above the earth. 

18. And the waters are mighty and increase 
greatly upon the earth; and the ark goeth upon 
the face of the waters. 

19. And the waters have been exceedingly 
great upon the earth; and all the high mountains 
that are under the whole heavens are covered. 

20. Fifteen cubits upward have the waters pre- 
vailed mightily; and the mountains are covered. 

21. And all flesh dieth that moveth upon the 
earth, both fowl and cattle, and beast, and every 
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and 
every man. 

22. All in whose nostrils is the breath of the 
spirit of life, of all that is in the dry land, have 
died. 

23. And every thing is destroyed that is upon 
the face of the ground, from man unto beast and 
creeping thing, and fowl of the heavens ; and they 



The Biblical Account of Creation 1 1 5 

are destroyed from the earth: and only Noah is 
left, and they that are with him in the ark. 

24. And the waters prevail upon the earth a 
hundred and fifty days. 

It is scarcely necessary to remark, that when it 
is said, "the waters bear up the ark, and lift it up 
atx o the earth," that it did not, strictly speaking, 
float upon them. The lifting up of the moon-ark 
was caused by the increasing rapidity of the earth's 
revolution on its axis, which threw the waters up 
in a stupendous wave that steadily tended to raise 
the great body of the moon, by a continuous up- 
ward movement, as it whirled round and round the 
earth. 

It is now no longer necessary to discuss the pos- 
sibility of a flood which covered all the highest 
mountains of the earth; for nothing can be inferred 
as to the height of the mountains of the earth at 
that remote geological period, from the height of 
those upon the earth at the present time. And even 
if the height were the same, the conditions were such 
as to provide all the water required; and its subse- 
quent removal and disappearance can be naturally 
accounted for, as I will show further on. 

The fifteen cubits which the waters prevailed over 
the mountain tops is simply a symbolic number; 
but in connection with the symbolism I would point 
out that fifteen is one twentieth part of the length 
of the ark, that this corresponds with the mountain 
top in the circuit of numbers, 1 and that it is recorded 
in the twentieth verse. 

1 See 20 in the scheme of numbers, Appendix I. 



n6 The Biblical Account of Creation 

In the statement (ver. 23) " Every thing is de- 
stroyed that is upon the face of the ground, from 
man unto beast and creeping thing, " the word ren- 
dered " every thing" is in the Hebrew col-qum, which 
is literally, " every hump, or heap"; and in this 
expression we have the very explanation of the 
living things upon the earth, given at the beginning 
of this interpretation. The creatures "in whose 
nostrils is the breath of the spirit of life," all of 
which are destroyed by the flood, are the small 
volcanic hills and cone-like mounds ablaze with 
subterranean fires, and the "creeping things" are 
the dull streams of molten matter flowing upon the 
surface of the earth. 



GENESIS VIII 

1. And Elohim remembereth Noah, and every 
living thing, and all the dumb beasts that are 
with him in the ark, and Elohim maketh a wind 
to pass over the earth, and the waters subside. 

2. The fountains also of the deep and the 
windows of the heavens are stopped, and the rain 
from the heavens is restrained. 

3. And the waters turn away from off the 
earth, going and returning: and after the end of 
a hundred and fifty days the waters are decreasing. 

4. And the ark resteth in the seventh month, 
on the seventeenth day of the month upon the 
mountains of Ararat. 

5. And the waters are going and decreasing 
until the tenth month: in the tenth, on the first 



The Biblical Account of Creation 117 

of the month were the tops of the mountains 
seen. 

The statement that "Elohim remembereth Noah 
and every living thing that is with him in the ark" 
means that the internal fires of the earth were not 
to be wholly extinguished, — there must be enough 
left "to preserve the seed of life"; and therefore 
the waters of the flood must be removed. This was 
accomplished by the operation of natural causes. 

The increasing rapidity of the earth's revolution 
on its axis was not imparted to an equal extent to 
the air high above its surface; and, consequently, 
the earth in turning from the west met the opposing 
body of air, as a wind coming from the east. This 
is the wind that Elohim made to pass over the earth, 
and sweep the superabundant waters of the flood 
away with the receding moon. And it is this same 
wind, which, not many years ago, carried the dust 
from the great volcano of Krakatoa, in the Straits 
of Sunda, all over the earth. How little did men 
think at the time, that that was the very wind that 
swept away the waters of the flood, in which so 
many of them refuse to believe. And yet the ex- 
istence of this wind was wholly unknown to the 
scientific world till the dust of the great volcanic 
explosion made it evident. 

Meanwhile, the great volumes of watery vapour 
which formed the black rain-clouds of the flood were 
withdrawn from the atmosphere by the continuous 
fall of the rain, and the action of the elements 
by which that vapour had been produced in such 
immense volumes was weakened by the changes 
in the temperature of the atmosphere, and other 



n8 The Biblical Account of Creation 

conditions tending to a normal and stable state. 
" And the fountains of the deep and the windows 
of the heavens are stopped, and the rain from the 
heavens is restrained." 

But the earth continued to whirl round on its 
axis more and more rapidly, throwing the waters 
up in a heap of stupendous height; and the moon, 
with the impulse it received from the earth and the 
rushing waters, gradually rose higher and higher, as 
on the top of the great wave it swept rapidly round 
the earth. As it receded, the great mass of waters 
became elongated, and at last broke asunder, and 
the moon withdrew further from the earth, carrying 
with it the greater part of the waters of the flood. 
But for a long time the waters were thrown back- 
ward and forward between it and the earth; and 
this is what is meant by the statement, "the waters 
turn away from the earth, going and returning." 

Meanwhile, the moon was travelling further and 
further away, and at last it rested " upon the moun- 
tains of Ararat, " which, in the symbolism, means 
the highest part of the earth and the great sky moun- 
tain above it. But its withdrawal from the earth 
was slow, and time after time the waters were flung 
off from the earth, and drawn up to it; and this is 
why it is again stated, "the waters are going and 
decreasing until the tenth month." And it is added, 
" In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, 
were the tops of the mountains seen." 

6. And it cometh to pass at the end of forty 
days, that Noah openeth the window of the ark 
which he had made. 

7. And he sendeth forth the raven, and it 



The Biblical Account of Creation 119 

goeth to and fro, till the drying up of the waters 
from off the earth. 

8. And he sendeth forth the dove from him 
to see if the waters have been abated from off 
the face of the ground ; 

9. But the dove hath not found rest for the 
sole of her foot, and she returneth unto him to 
the ark, for the waters are on the face of the 
whole earth; and he putteth out his hand and 
taketh her, and bringeth her in unto him into 
the ark. 

10. And he stayeth yet other seven days; and 
again he sendeth forth the dove out of the ark. 

11. And the dove cometh in to him at even- 
tide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive leaf pluckt 
off: and Noah knoweth that the waters are abated 
from off the earth. 

12. And he stayeth yet other seven days, and 
sendeth forth the dove; and she returneth not 
again to him any more. 

The forty days which passed after the tops of the 
mountains were seen, correspond to the forty days' 
rain preceding the lifting up of the ark. The window 
which Noah then opened is not now called the tzohar, 
which was a small aperture a cubit in size, but the 
challon, a term derived from chalal, "to bore through, 
to perforate"; and it is descriptive of the aperture 
in the dark clouds, which, after being for a while 
nearly closed and obscure, is now re-opened and of 
greater size and brightness. 

The raven which he sent forth is a conception 



120 The Biblical Account of Creation 

of the black clouds which kept " going to and fro, 
till the drying up of the waters from off the earth/' 
The dove, with its bright, glistening neck, is the 
beautiful symbol of the morning cloud when it shows 
the first intermingled changes of light and colour. 
But the morning w^as not yet, and she returns to 
darkness. When he sends her forth the second time, 
"she cometh to him at eventide, and in her mouth 
an olive leaf pluckt off." 

The beauty of this symbolism has been perceived 
by every one, and yet, strange to say, no explanation 
of its origin, or how the olive tree came by its beau- 
tiful significance, has ever been given. But it is in 
place to show it here in connection with the dove. 
The olive tree with its dusky foliage is the symbol 
of the gray dawn of morning that precedes the rising 
light. And, in accordance with this, the olive leaf, 
which is a typical small gray cloud, is here the sign 
that the dark waters of the flood, like the darkness 
of night, are about to disappear from the earth. 
Accordingly, when Noah sends the dove out the 
third time, the morning had come, and she returns 
to him no more. 

13. And it cometh to pass in the six hundred 
and first year, in the first [month], on the first 
day of the month, the waters have been dried 
from off the earth: and Noah removeth the cov- 
ering of the ark, and looketh, and, behold, the 
face of the ground hath been dried. 

14. And in the second month, on the seven 
and twentieth day of the month, the earth hath 
become dry. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 121 

The different views taken of the duration of the 
flood make it important to show here the exact 
time in connection with the symbolism. This, as 
I have repeatedly stated, is on one side Elohistic, 
relating to the earth and the moon as material bod- 
ies only; and the other Yahvistic, denoting their 
relation to light and darkness. It is scarcely neces- 
sary to remind the reader that the numbers are all 
symbolical. 

The Elohistic statement, which comes first, is 
that the flood began in the six hundredth year of 
Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth 
day of the month (vii. n). 

The forty days' and forty nights' rain is part of 
the Yahvistic symbolism; and the statement is made 
to show the number of days it took for the waters 
of the flood to lift up the ark from off the earth 
(vii. 17). But it is not said that the rain ceased 
at the end of the forty days. On the contrary, 
after this time, it is stated that "the waters increase 
greatly upon the earth, and the ark goeth upon the 
face of the waters, 11 which had still to rise fifteen 
cubits above the tops of the highest mountains 
(verses 9, 20). The fifteen cubits is half the height 
of the ark, another instance of its twofold sym- 
bolism. " And the waters prevail upon the earth 
a hundred and fifty days, 11 a number which is ten 
times their height above the tops of the mountains. 

"And after the end of a hundred and fifty days, 
the ark resteth in the seventh month, on the seven- 
teenth day of the month, upon the mountains of 
Ararat," that is, just five months after the beginning 
of the flood. And now to give the exact time of 
every stage in detail : 



122 The Biblical Account of Creation 

From the beginning of the flood till the ark rested 
on Ararat ...... 

From the ark resting on Ararat till the tops of the 
mountains were seen .... 

Noah waits 40 days, and sends forth the raven 

Waits seven, and sends forth the dove, 1st time 

Waits, and sends forth the dove, 2d time 

Waits, and sends forth the dove, 3d time 

From sending forth the dove the third time to the 
601st year, 1st month, and 1st day of the month 
of Noah's life . . . . . . .33 

From the 1st day of the first month to the 27th day 
of the second month, when the earth had become 
dry 47 



.150 


days 


e 

• 74 


<< 


. 40 


«< 


• 7 


fl 


• 7 


II 




II 


• 7 





365 days 

Thus the whole duration of the flood is exactly equal 
to a solar year. 

But the Yahvistic period of forty days' and forty 
nights' rain being included in the 150 solar days of 
the Elohistic symbolism, shows that the time of the 
duration of the flood must also be interpreted of 
the moon, because of her connection with the ark; 
and it is a lunar year (354 days) and eleven days. 
The covering which Noah removed from the ark 
is the covering of dark clouds which overspread 
the sky. 

15. And Elohim speaketh unto Noah, saying, 

16. Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, 
and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. 

17. Bring forth with thee every living thing 
that is with thee, of all flesh, both fowl, and 
cattle, and every creeping thing that creepeth 
upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly 



The Biblical Account of Creation 123 

in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon 
the earth. 

18. And Noah goeth forth, and his sons, and 
his wife, and his sons' wives with him. 

19. Every beast, every creeping thing, and 
every fowl, whatsoever moveth upon the earth, 
after their families, have gone forth out of the 
ark. 

Much important and beautiful symbolism is con- 
nected with this part of the narrative, but it must 
be passed over for the general interpretation. Noah's 
going forth of the ark is descriptive of the earth's 
coming out of the darkness into the bright light of 
the open heavens, when the rain-clouds had disap- 
peared, and the waters that had been left of the 
flood had retreated into ocean basins. The beasts 
and cattle and creeping things that came with Noah 
out of the ark are the new lands and hills and 
mountains of the earth, which came forth from it, 
when the waters of the flood had passed away. 

20. And Noah buildeth an altar unto Yahveh; 
and taketh of every clean beast, and of every 
clean fowl, and offereth burnt offerings on the 
altar. 

21. And Yahveh smelleth a sweet savour; and 
Yahveh saith in his heart, I will not again curse 
the ground any more for man's sake, for the 
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; 
neither will I again smite any more every living 
thing, as I have done. 

22. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and 



124 The Biblical Account of Creation 

harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and 
winter, and day and night, shall not cease. 

The altar which Noah builds to Yahveh is the 
altar of the renewed and purified earth. The crea- 
tures offered upon it are the new lands and hills 
and mountains ; and the fire in which they are offered 
is the sacred fire of the sun. 

During the period of upheaval and violence which 
preceded the flood, the earth was surrounded with 
mephitic vapours and noxious exhalations, from 
which it had been purged and purified by the cleans- 
ing waters; and the sweet savour which Yahveh 
smelleth is the fresh air of the purified earth. "And 
Yahveh saith in his heart, I will not again curse 
the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagi- 
nation of man's heart is evil from his youth.' ' 

Attention must be directed to the difference be- 
tween the last words here uttered by Yahveh, and 
what is said of man just before the flood. Then, 
Yahveh saw that "the imagination of the thoughts 
of his heart was only evil continually' 1 (vi. 5); but 
now, he says, "The imagination of the thoughts 
of the man's heart is evil from his youth" that is, 
because of his youth, 1 implying that he would out- 
grow it. And this has reference to the internal 
disturbances which still work disorder and destruc- 
tion in the new young earth, which has not yet 
settled down to a permanently stable condition. 

We have seen that the statement, Noahh ish 
tzaddiq tamim hay a bedorothav, commonly rendered, 

» Among the various meanings of the word min, "from," 
is that of denoting "the source from which anything pro- 
ceeds, on account of, because of " (Ges.). 



The Biblical Account of Creation 125 

"Noah is a righteous man, perfect in his generations/* 
when taken in the primary sense of the Hebrew words, 
is, literally, "Noah is an upright man, perfect in his 
turnings"', and, as descriptive of the earth at the 
time to which it refers, can only mean that its axis 
is perpendicular, or nearly so, to the plane of its 
orbit. But the moon with its accompanying mass 
of water was not thrown off from the earth without 
a change in the line of the earth's axis that made 
it oblique to the plane of her orbit. And the occur- 
rence of such a change is implied by Yahveh's words: 
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, 
and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and 
day and night, shall not cease," — phenomena which, 
with the exception of day and night, are not men- 
tioned before ; and which are all caused by the position 
of the earth's axis to the plane of its orbit. 

GENESIS IX 

1. And Elohim blesseth Noah and his sons, 
and saith unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, 
and replenish the earth. 

2. And the fear of you and the dread of you 
shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon 
every fowl of the heavens, with all wherewith 
the ground teemeth, and all the fishes of the sea, 
into your hand are they delivered. 

3. Every moving thing that liveth, to you 
it is for food; as the green herb I have given 
you all. 

4. But flesh with the life thereof, the blood 
of it, ye do not eat. 



126 The Biblical Account of Creation 

5. And surely your blood of your lives do I 
require; at the hand of every beast do I require 
it: and at the hand of man, even at the hand 
of every man's brother, do I require the life of 
man. 

6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man 
shall his blood be shed ; for in the image of the 
Elohim hath he made man. 

7. And ye, be fruitful and multiply ; bring forth 
abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. 

Noah and his sons are the earth generally, and 
its three great typical divisions. Their being fruitful 
and multiplying is descriptive of the formation of 
new lands and islands, which from time to time rose 
up out of the sea. The beasts of the earth that 
are to fear them and dread them are, as before, 
the mountains and hills and other high parts of the 
earth, which are subject to the movements of the 
great continental masses, that cause them to tremble 
and break, as the words rendered "fear" and "dread" 
literally signify. The fishes of the sea are the shifting 
shoals and sandbanks in the waters. And so with 
every thing else, — all are given to Noah and his 
sons. 

The flesh they are not to eat, "with the life thereof, 
the blood of it," is the flesh that closed up the open 
side of Adam; and the blood is the liquid fire of 
the red molten matter, a striking symbol of life. 
Therefore Elohim requires of every beast of the 
earth and of every man the penalty of blood for 
blood; for where the plutonic matter in one part 
of the earth's crust destroys another by its igneous 



The Biblical Account of Creation 127 

action, it is itself changed in condition and destroyed 
in turn. The end of the blessing implies a period 
of development and order, and serves to introduce 
with great effect the covenant Elohim makes with 
Noah, and the beautiful sign of the rainbow. 

8. And Elohim speaketh unto Noah, and to 
his sons with him, saying, — 

9. And I, behold, I establish my covenant 
with you, and with your seed after you. 

10. And with every living creature that is 
with you, the fowl, the cattle, and every beast 
of the earth with you; of all that go out of the 
ark, even every beast of the earth. 

ii, And I have established my covenant with 
you; and all flesh shall not be cut off any more 
by waters of a flood, and there shall not be any 
more a flood to destroy the earth. 

12. And Elohim saith, This is the sign of the 
covenant which I make between me and you, and 
every living creature that is with you, for the 
generations of the world. 

13. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it 
shall be for a sign of a covenant between me 
and the earth. 

14. And it shall come to pass, when I bring 
a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen 
in the cloud, 

15. And I will remember my covenant which 
is between me and you and every living creature 
of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become 
a flood to destroy all flesh. 



128 The Biblical Account of Creation 

1 6. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and 
I will look upon it that I may remember the 
everlasting covenant between Elohim and every 
living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 

17. And Elohim saith unto Noah, This is the 
sign of the covenant which I have established 
between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. 

In the interpretation of the history of Cain and 
his descendants, I showed that the first clouds were 
formed by volumes of watery vapour around the 
summit of the great unshapen mass of matter, which 
in course of time was separated from the earth, and 
eventually became the moon. By the same opera- 
tions of nature, clouds were formed everywhere in 
the upper regions of the atmosphere, which they 
covered as with a pall; and, at last, as the process 
of condensation went on, they burst open, and poured 
the waters of the flood upon the earth. 

But, during all this time, no rainbow was pos- 
sible, owing to the black clouds covering the whole 
heavens, and to the volcanic dust and ashes which 
filled the atmosphere; while the sun himself was 
veiled with ruddy vapours. It was only when the 
rains of the great flood had ceased, and the black 
clouds were passing away from the sky, that the 
most beautiful phenomenon in all nature could be 
seen. Then it was that Elohim set his bow in the 
cloud, in sign that the earth should not again be 
destroyed by a flood, and that the order of nature 
connected with it should continue for all time. 

The beginning of this period calls for a formal 
statement of the names of the three sons of Noah, 



The Biblical Account of Creation 129 

who represent the three great divisions of the earth ; 
and it is given in the next two verses : 

18. And the sons of Noah that go forth of 
the ark are Shem, and Ham, and Yapheth; and 
Ham is the father of Canaan. 

19. These three are the sons of Noah, and of 
them hath all the earth been overspread. 

The story of Noah's drunkenness is seemingly 
far removed from this simple statement concerning 
his three sons, but, in reality, it is closely connected 
with it. 

20. And Noah beginneth to be a husbandman, 
and he planteth a vineyard ; 

21. And he drinketh of the wine, and is 
drunken, and uncovereth himself in the midst 
of his tent. 

22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, seeth 
the nakedness of his father, and telleth his two 
brethren without. 

23. And Shem and Yapheth take the mantle 
and place it upon both their shoulders, and go 
backward, and cover the nakedness of their 
father; and their faces are backward, and they 
see not their father's nakedness. 

24. And Noah awaketh from his wine, and 
knoweth what his son, the young one, hath done 
unto him. 

25. And he saith, Cursed is Canaan; a servant 
of servants is he unto his brethren. 



130 The Biblical Account of Creation 

26. And he saith, Blessed of Yahveh my 
Elohim is Shem: and Canaan is servant to him. 

27. Elohim enlargeth Yapheth, and he dwell- 
eth in the tents of Shem; and Canaan is servant 
to him. 

The statement, "And Noah beginneth to be a 
husbandman," is, literally, "beginneth to be a man 
of the adamah" — ish ha-adamah, — and it has refer- 
ence to the most important event in the early history 
of the earth. 

The adamah is the fertile ground or soil of the 
surface of the earth. Before the flood, there could 
be no formation of this kind; for the crust of the 
earth consisted wholly of hard igneous rocks, and 
beds of scoriaceous matter, still hot with internal 
fires. It was only when these rocks were broken 
and worn down by the waters of the flood that the 
formation of the adamah began; and, accordingly, 
at this time Noah is described as "beginning to be 
a man of the adamah." 

The existence of productive soil, together with 
moistening rains and the warmth of the earth, aided 
by the vitalizing light of the sun, soon caused the 
formation of vegetable cells, and, eventually, the 
production of plants bearing flowers and fruit. 

Thus it is in close connection with the ark as the 
storehouse of the seed of life, that Noah now began 
to be a man of the adamah, and produced the vine, 
a plant which has in all ages been significant of life, 
and drank of the wine, the sacred symbol of the 
spirit of life. But, like the spirit of man himself, 
it has a tendency to evil as well as to good; and 



The Biblical Account of Creation 131 

"he is drunken, and uncovereth himself in the midst 
of his tent." 

But the vineyard which Noah planted is in the 
dark crust of the earth, and the fiery streams which 
flowed from it are the wine of which he drank. His 
drunken sleep denotes the subsiding of the molten 
matter into a solid state, and when it lost its 
brightness and its heat, Noah awoke from his 
wine. 

In accordance with this symbolism, Ham, who 
represents the lower formations of the earth's sur- 
face, sees the nakedness of Noah as he lies in his 
tent; and his brethren Shem and Yapheth, whom 
he tells of the matter, are "without," that is, on 
the upper part of the earth's surface, and thus in 
the World of light and life. And, in connection with 
this, the garment which they laid upon their shoul- 
ders, and with which they covered the nakedness 
of their father, is the first young vegetation of the 
earth ; and this explains the manner of their approach- 
ing him, their backs being towards the ground, and 
their faces looking upwards. 

But Canaan, the youngest son of Ham, is most 
in fault in connection with the nakedness of Noah; 
for he represents the most recently formed rocks on 
the surface of the earth, and is thus the immediate 
exposer of its nakedness. Therefore, the curse of Noah 
rests upon Canaan: he is to be not only a servant, 
but a servant of servants to Shem and Yapheth, which 
is descriptive of his origin in the lower parts of the 
earth, under the overlying formations of Shem and 
Yapheth. These two, as belonging to the upper 
world of light and life, are blessed, — Shem, in the 
presence of Yahveh, the God of law and order; and 



J3 2 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Yapheth in being enlarged by Elohim, and dwelling 
in the tents of Shem. 

But the expression, ish ha-adarnah, has reference 
also to the beginning of animal life. All animals, 
as well as all plants, have their origin in minute 
cells of protoplastic matter; the one class of cells 
being differentiated by the conditions of the land, 
the other by the conditions of the water in which 
they were formed, and the longer time it took to 
form them. 

When, therefore, we have the first cells of vegetable 
origin, we have, virtually, the first cells of an animal 
organism. And this is signified in the expression, 
ish ha-adamah, in which the article He is the sign of 
the light of life; and adamah, the productive soil of 
the earth, is the name of Adam written with He 
directive, Adama/z, that is, "towards Adam," or 
man, in whom the principle of life, which appeared 
in the first humble plants of the earth, finds its last 
and highest development. 

Of like significance is the symbolism of the vine- 
yard and the wine; for the vine, which proceeds 
out of the adamah, yields the wine which is the 
symbol of the spirit in living creatures, and of the 
immortal principle in man himself. 

But the adamah is a production of the volcanic 
and other igneous rocks of the earth's surface; and 
this brings us to Canaan's action in connection with 
the nakedness of Noah, which is but another term 
for the loins of the earth, and has direct reference to 
the origin of life. Further: in the Biblical narrative 
and its wonderful symbolism we have the exact 
period in the history of the earth when the phenomena 
of life began. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 133 

28. And Noah liveth after the flood three 
hundred and fifty years. 

29. And all the days of Noah are [Heb. is] 
nine hundred and fifty years ; and he dieth. 

The three hundred and fifty years, which Noah 
lived after the flood, are a symbolic number, indi- 
cating the character of the events recorded in the 
tenth chapter. During this time new lands were 
formed on the surface of the earth, and it was covered 
with flowering plants and trees, and peopled with 
multitudes of living creatures, the last and highest 
of which was man. 

The numerical sign of this period is ten; and accord- 
ingly, the tenth chapter is a formal statement of all 
the lands and peoples of the earth, described as 
" The generations of the sons of Noah." 

GENESIS X 

1. And these are the generations of the sons 
of Noah, — Shem, Ham, and Yapheth; and unto 
them are sons born after the flood. 

2. The sons of Yapheth: Gomer, and Magog, 
and Madai, and Yavan, and Tubal, and Meshek, 
and Tiras. 

3. And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and 
Riphath, and Togarmah. 

4. And the sons of Yavan: Elishah, and Tar- 
shish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 

5. Of these are the isles of the nations divided 
in their lands, every one after his tongue, after 
their families, in their nations. 



134 The Biblical Account of Creation 

6. And the sons of Ham: Kush, and Mitzraim, 
and Put, and Canaan. 

7. And the sons of Kush: Seba, and Havilah 
and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtekah; and the 
sons of Raamah, — Sheba, and Dedan. 

8. And Kush hath begotten Nimrod: he hath 
begun to be a mighty one in the earth. 

9. He hath been a mighty one, hunting before 
Yahveh: wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod the 
mighty hunter before Yahveh. 

10. And the beginning of his kingdom is 
Bab-el, and Erek, and Akkad, and Kalneh, in 
the land of Shinar. 

11. Out of that land [he] hath gone forth 
[into] Asshur, and buildeth Nineveh, and the 
outspreadings of the city, and Kalah, 

12. And Resen between Nineveh and Kalah: 
it is the great city. 

13. And Mitzraim hath begotten Ludim, and 
Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, 

14. And Pathrusim, and Kasluhim, — whence 
have come out Pelishtim, — and Kaphtorim. 

15. And Canaan hath begotten Tzidon his 
firstborn, and Heth; 

16. And the Yebusite, and the Amorite, and 
the Girgashite; 

17. And the Hivvite, and the Arkite, and the 
Sinite ; 

18. And the Arvadite, and the Tzemarite, 
and the Hamathite: and afterwards have the 
families of the Canaanite been spread abroad. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 135 

19. And the border of the Canaanite is from 
Tzidon, in thy going towards Gerar, unto Gaza; 
in thy going towards Sodom and Gomorrah and 
Admah and Tzeboiim, unto Lasha. 

20. These are the sons of Ham, after their 
families, after their tongues, in their lands, in 
their nations. 



21. And Shem, the father of all the children 
of Eber, the elder brother of Yapheth, he also 
hath begotten. 

22. The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and 
Arpakshad, and Lud, and Aram. 

23. And the sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and 
Gether, and Mash. 

24. And Arpakshad hath begotten Shelah, 
and Shelah hath begotten Eber. 

25. And to Eber have been born two sons: 
the name of the one is Peleg; for in his days 
hath the earth been divided, and his brother's 
name is Yoktan. 

26. And Yoktan hath begotten Almodad, and 
Sheleph, and Hatzarmaveth, and Yerah; 

27. And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah; 

28. And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba; 

29. And Ophir, and Havilah, and Yobab: all 
these are sons of Yoktan. 

30. And their dwelling is from Mesha, in thy 
going towards Sephar, the mountain of the east. 

31. These are the sons of Shem, after their 



136 The Biblical Account of Creation 

families, after their tongues, in their lands, after 
their nations. 

32. These are the families of the sons of Noah, 
after their generations, in their nations: and of 
these have the nations been divided in the earth 
after the flood. 

The events veiled under this record of ancient 
lands are as surprising as they are important, both 
in their character and in their symbolism, which is 
expressed not only in the meaning of the names, 
but also in the numbers denoted by them, in a way 
that makes this chapter the most marvellous em- 
bodiment of the symbolism of numbers that is to 
be found in the sacred Hebrew Scriptures. 

The time at which it begins is when the first rains of 
the flood were falling upon the earth ; and in the form of 
a genealogical record, it indicates the succession of new 
lands formed by the waters of the flood, and their 
action in shaping the imperfect body of the moon. 

The seventy lands named are a symbolic number 
representing all the lands of the earth ; and this calls 
for an explanation of how such terms as "families," 
"tongues," and "nations" can be applied to them. 
From the mention of "isles" in connection with 
the sons of Yapheth, whose generations are given 
first, it is evident that the lands named were formed 
by upheaval from the waters. This being the case, 
the use of the word mishpachoth, "families," can 
be easily explained; for it is derived from a root 
shaphach, "to spread out, to expand," which de- 
scribes the extension of the lands as they rose above 
the surface of the waters, and united with other 
outlying parts. The word "tongue" needs no expla- 



The Biblical Account of Creation 137 

nation; for " tongue of land" is still a common 
descriptive expression; and the word goyirn, here 
rendered "nations/' is from a root gavah, "to be 
rising, gibbous, like a back or belly ,, (Ges., Lex.). 
Thus all these terms are appropriately descriptive 
of the formation of the lands, and their upheaval 
above the waters. 

In the middle of the chapter there is a special 
record of seven cities built by Nimrod the son of 
Kush, which, in connection with the number of the 
lands, makes seventy and seven, the sign of Lamek 
the son of Cain, and with the name of Nimrod him- 
self included, seventy-eight in all. Nimrod and his 
cities have a most important place in the symbolism 
of the chapter, but to show this and the events in 
the physical history of the earth of which it is de- 
scriptive, it is necessary to arrange the whole series 
of names in a tabulated form in three columns, 
together with the number of every name as denoted 
by the numerical value of its letters in the Hebrew 
text. And to this I append two similar tables of the 
generations of Shem, showing the correlation of its 
two branches, the sons of Yoktan and the sons of 
Peleg, to the time of Abram, with whom the Biblical 
account of the creation, in the present book, ends. 



138 The Biblical Account of Creation 



Table of the Generations of the Sons of Noah 
Genesis X. 





Sons of 


No. of 
Name 


Sons of 


No. of 
Name 


Sons of 


No. of 

Name 




Yapheth 


490 


Ham 


48 


Shem 


340 


I 


Gomer 


243 


Kush 


326 


Elam 


J 5o 


2 


Magog 


52 


Mitzraim 


380 


Asshur 


807 


3 


Madai 


54 


Put 


95 


Arpakshad 


605 


4 


Yavan 


66 


Canaan 


190 


Lud 


40 


5 


Tubal 


432 


Seba 


63 


Aram 


241 


6 


Meshek 


360 


Havilah 


59 


Uz 


166 


7 


Tiras 


670 


Sabtah 


467 


Hul 


44 


8 


Ashkenaz 


378 


Raamah 


3 J 5 


Gether 


603 


9 


Riphath 


690 


Sabteka 


483 


Mash 


340 


10 


Togarmah 


648 


Sheba 


3°3 


Shelah 


338 


11 


Elishah 


346 
(3939) 


Dedan 


58 
(2739) 


Eber 


272 


12 


Tarshish 


1210 


Nimrod 


294 


Peleg 


IX 3 
(3719) 


J 3 


Kittim 


870 


Babel 


34 


Yoktan 


169 


14 


Dodanim 


108 


Erek 


221 


Almodad 


85 


15 






Akkad 


45 
(3333) 
io 5 


Sheleph 


410 


16 






Kalneh 


Hatzarmaveth 


744 


J 7 






Nineveh 


121 


Yerah ) 


218 


18 






Kalah 


58 


Hadoram >- 5 1 7 


255 


19 






Resen 


310 


Uzal ) 


44 


20 






Ludim 


90 


Diklah 


x 39 


21 






Anamim 


210 


Obal 


108 


22 






Lehabim 


87 


Abimael 


84 


23 






Naphtuhim 


588 


Sheba 


3°3 


24 






Pathrusim 


790 


Ophir 


287 


2 5 






Kasluhim 


168 


Havilah 


59 


26 






Pelishtim 


860 


Yobab 


20 
(1000) 


27 






Kaphtorim 


75° 






28 






Tzidon 


J 54 






29 






Heth 


408 






3° 






Ha-Yebusi 


93 






3i 






Ha-Amori 


256 
7470 








6127 


6644 



The Biblical Account of Creation 139 

Table of the Generations of the Sons of Noah. (Continued) 





Sons of 


No. of 

Name 


Sons of 


No. of 
Name 


Sons of 


No. of 

Name 




Yapheth 


6127 


Ham 


7470 


Shem 


6644 


32 






Ha-Girgashi 


524 






33 






Ha-Hhivvi 


35 






34 






Ha-Arki 


385 






SS 






Ha-Sini 


J 95 






36 






Ha-Arvadi 


226 






S7 






Ha-Tzemari 


435 






38 




6127 


Ha-Hamathi 


463 
10644 








6644 



The Generations of Shem. 
Chapter X. 



The Generations of Shem. 
Chapter XI. 







No. of 






No. of 






Name 






Name 




Shem 


34o 


1 


Shem 


34o 


3 


Arpakshad 


605 


2 


Arpakshad 


605 


10 


Shelah 


338 


3 


Shelah 


338 


11 


Eber 


272 


4 


Eber 


272 


12 


Peleg 


"3 


5 


Peleg 


113 


13 


Yoktan 


169 


6 


Reu 


276 


14 


Almodad 


85 


7 


Serug 


509 


i.S 


Sheleph 


410 


8 


Nahor 


264 


16 


Hatzarmaveth 


744 


Q 


Terah 


608 


17 


Yerah 


218 


10 


Abram 


243 



As this table is the basis for the interpretation 
of the wonderful record of this chapter, the symbo- 
logical position of the three columns of which it 
consists must first of all be pointed out. The 
right-hand column, which contains the names of 
the sons of Shem, is connected with the east; and 
the left-hand column, which contains the names of 
the sons of Yapheth, with the west. The middle or 



140 The Biblical Account of Creation 

second column contains the names of the sons of 
Ham, the second son of Noah, and in accordance 
with the symbolism of the duad, it represents the 
lower and darker parts of the earth. The reason 
why the sons of Yapheth, the youngest son of Noah, 
are named first in this chapter is that, as the youngest, 
they represent the condition of the first lands at the 
beginning of their formation, which was that of 
islands * ; and thus the names of the lands end with 
the sons of Shem, who were the first in order of 
birth, and have the highest place in the symbolism. 
There are in all three lines of interpretation to 
this record, one of which is connected with the 
origin and formation of the moon. The symbolism 
calls for this first, and, accordingly, I begin with it. 

THE CREATION OF THE MOON 

The close connection between the moon and the 
earth so clearly established by the great interpreters 
of the phenomena of nature, is surpassed by the 
wonderful revelations of the Bible. Not only does 
it tell in the personal history of Cain, how the moon 
had its origin in the earth, but also in the form of 
a genealogical record describes the different stages 
in its formation and the phenomena connected with 
them. All this will be shown in the interpretation 
of this chapter, which, as the symbolism requires, 
begins with the names of the sons of Yapheth. 

The first of these is Gomer, that is "completion," 
and it signifies that the history of the earth as related 
in the preceding chapters is completed in this, in 

1 See verse five. There is no mention of islands in connec- 
tion with the lands of Ham and Shem. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 141 

accordance with the symbolism of the number ten, 
which denotes the completion of a cycle. 

The name of the second of Yapheth's sons, Magog, 
means the "mountain of Gog 1 ; and it is that part of 
the earth which was thrown up by its swift rotation, 
like a huge mountain upon its surface, as shown in the 
history of Cain. To this it may be added, that two, the 
numerical sign of Magog, as the second of Yapheth's 
sons, indicates that the base of the great mountain is 
now surrounded by the waters of the flood. 

The name of his third son, Madai, has been taken 
to denote the middle part of the earth, with which the 
symbolism also connects it; but it is more appropri- 
ately descriptive of what is stretched out, or extended, 2 
towards the heavens, for at this time the lower part 
of it was becoming elongated, as the great body 
above tended to rise upward by the force of the earth's 
rotation. 

While this upward movement was going on, the 
rushing waters of the flood were cutting and sweeping 
away the lower part of the huge mass, and grinding 
down the rocks into mud and clay, with which they 
became turbid. And this is what is signified by the 
name of Yapheth's fourth son, Yavan, which is the 
same as Yaven, a term for mud, clay, and mire, 
particularly when washed about by water in a state of 
commotion (Ges. Lex.). 

As the waters of the flood increased in volume, they 
gave additional momentum to the rotational force of 
the earth, and the great mountain-like mass began to 
roll slowly on along with them, in their course around 

* Gog has been connected by some with the Old Persian 
koka, the moon. 

2 See the verb madad, "to stretch out, to extend." 



142 The Biblical Account of Creation 

it. And this is indicated by the name of Tubal, which 
means " he who comes back or returns. " 

But in this course around the earth from west to 
east, it soon took the foremost place, drawing with 
it the waters of the flood in a great rushing wave, 
bearing a rubble of broken rocks mixed with mud and 
clay. And, descriptive of this, the great unshapen 
mass is now called Mashek, " the drawer or dragger. " 

The swiftness of its course, which is constantly 
increasing, carries it on as if seized by an irresistible 
impulse; and hence the name of Tiras, denoting one 
who is taken possession of, like him who has drunk 
of new wine (tirosh) . 

This shows the history of the unshapen moon, 
as indicated by the names of the first generation of 
the sons of Yapheth; and their number, seven, has 
reference to the number given to Cain as a sign. The 
symbolism now passes to the three sons of Gomer, 
whose name signifies "completion"; and, in accord- 
ance with this, his sons' names have reference to the 
action of the earth's forces that gave a spherical 
shape to the moon, which completed its formation. 

The first is Ashkenaz, whose name — which is 
derived from shakah, "to wander," and nazah, "to 
leap, to spring," — denotes one who wanders and, in 
his wanderings, leaps up from time to time; and this 
name, "The leaping wanderer," is descriptive of the 
moon in its swift course around the earth, making, as 
it were, impulsive efforts to spring clear of it. 

While it rushed onward in this way, striking 
against the mountains of the earth, and crushing them 
to pieces, its own mountains were in turn broken and 
destroyed, and its body symmetrically rounded. 
Accordingly, this part of the work of completion is 



The Biblical Account of Creation 143 

described by the name of Gomer's second son, Riphath, 
4 'one that pounds and bruises. 1 ' 

But the moon was gradually freeing itself from the 
earth, and passing more lightly over it; and this is 
signified by the name of Gomer's third son, Togar- 
mah, 1 which is descriptive of scraping or grazing 
only. 

The events in the next stage of the moon's history 
are indicated by the names of the sons of Yavan, four 
in number. In this stage the moon is sweeping clear 
of the earth altogether, and has begun its ascent in 
the heavens. And it is to this that the name of 
Ya van's first son, Elishah, has reference; for its 
literal meaning is, "El" — the impelling power of 
nature — "makes room," that is, for the free course 
of the moon heavenward. 

Tarshish, the name of Yavan's second son, signifies 
"broken down, destroyed" (Ges. Lex.); and it was 
given to the extreme western part of the earth, on 
the borders of the dark under world. But the moon, 
now a bright orb in the heavens, dispelled the opposing 
darkness, and swept it from her path. Hence, the 
appropriateness of the name of Tarshish, as denoting 
the destruction of nocturnal darkness by the orb of 
light. 

Beyond this, the moon passes into the depths of 
the under world, the symbological character of which 
is indicated by the name of Yavan's third son, 
Kittim, "the hidden." 

Finally, the name of Yavan's fourth son, Dodanim, 
which is significant of the meeting of beloved ones, has 
reference to the two sides of the moon's orb, and the 

1 From gar ah, "to scrape, to graze." 



144 The Biblical Account of Creation 

two hemispheres of the earth, under the symbol of 
breasts or paps, one light and the other dark, which 
characterize them as the beloved of Yahveh, the 
God of light and darkness. 

This ends the symbolism of the history of the moon, 
as embodied in the names of the sons of Yapheth. 

The symbolism connected with the names of the 
sons of Ham is next in order. The first generation con- 
sists of four sons — Kush, Mitzraim, Put, and Canaan — 
and these denote figuratively the four sections of the 
circuit of the earth. Kush, as the eldest son of Ham, 
the hot, charred earth, represents its darkness which 
begins in the west; Mitzraim, the two sides of the 
under world at the midnight point, — hence its place 
as the second of the series, and the dual form of the 
name. Pftt is the land of the bow, and it is named 
here with reference to the shooting forth of the rays 
of light in the east; and Canaan is the land where 
the light of day rests upon the earth. 

The five sons of Kush represent five stages in 
the symbolism connected with the under world of the 
west. The first one, Seba, "the absorber, or drinker 
up, M is the hot, charred earth, which drinks up in its 
innumerable fissures and cavities, the first waters of 
the flood. 

The name of the second, Havilah, is descriptive 
both of the writhing of the hot earth, caused by the 
cooling action of the waters, and of its turning on its 
axis. 

The continuous fall of the great rains soon caused 
the waters to flow into one of the great depressions or 
hollows of the earth's surface, which thus became, as 
it were, its drinking place. And this is signified by the 



The Biblical Account of Creation 145 

name of Sabtah, which, like Seba, is derived from 
sabciy " to drink up, " and ta, " a place. " 

As the waters found their way into the fissures and 
fiery cavities of the earth, and were converted into 
steam, they caused ceaseless convulsions and trem- 
blings in its weak, unstable crust; and these are 
descriptively indicated by the name of Raamah, 
"the shaking or trembling one." 

But the rains continued, and as the waters increased, 
they filled not only the great hollows and depressions 
in the shrunken crust of the earth, but covered its 
whole surface; and this is what is signified by the 
name of Sabteka, which, like Seba and Sabtah, is 
derived from the root saba, "to suck up," and taka 
"to lie down or upon. " These three names, as may 
be inferred from their derivation, form a series in the 
symbolism, which begins with the absorption of the 
first rains by the hot, charred earth; in the second 
stage, is the name of a place — a great hollow or de- 
pression on the surface of the earth — which receives the 
streams of flowing waters, and is the beginning of the 
primeval ocean; and in the third stage, describes 
their being sucked or drawn up by the attraction of 
the moon so as to cover the whole surface of the earth. 

While the waters were increasing in volume, they 
were acted on more and more by the rotation of the 
earth, which threw them up in a stupendous tidal 
wave, which in its onward rush bore with it the huge 
body of the moon, rolling around the earth. And 
of this the name of Sheba 1 is strikingly descriptive, 
for it denotes one who is carried off or away. 

But this movement was at first very slow and 

1 A derivative from shabah, "to take or lead captive, to 
carry away," 

19 



146 The Biblical Account of Creation 

gradual, as the name of Dedan, 1 " he who goes slowly 
and softly," shows. 

At this point in the generations of Kush, the Bibli- 
cal record departs from its brief genealogical form, to 
give the following narrative : 

8. And Kush hath begotten Nimrod: he hath 
begun to be a mighty one in the earth. 

9. He hath been a mighty one, hunting before 
Yahveh: wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod the 
mighty hunter before Yahveh. 

10. And the beginning of his kingdom is 
Babel, and Erek, and Akkad, and Kalneh, in the 
land of Shinar. 

11. Out of that land [he] hath gone forth 
[into] Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the 
outspreadings of the city, and Kalah, 

12. And Resen between Nineveh and Kalah; 
it is the great city. 

This extraordinary narrative is descriptive of the 
two phases of the symbolism embodied in this chapter. 
Nimrod is a personified conception of the young, dark 
moon when it began to move freely and rapidly round 
the earth. And thus it was that Nimrod began to be a 
mighty hunter before Yahveh, the God of light and 
darkness. But what were the cities which he built? 

For a clear understanding of this, the reader 
must go back to the Introduction (pp. 4-6), in which 
I have shown the mythic notions connected with the 
names of the ancient cities of Babylonia and Assyria. 
Of the seven cities built by Nimrod, four belong to the 
earth itself, beginning with the west, of which that 

1 From dadah, "to go slowly, softly." 



The Biblical Account of Creation 147 

number is the sign; and three, as the number indicates, 
to the east, where the rising light carries the sym- 
bolism from the earth to the heavens. 

The first of the four cities, Bab-el, is the "Gate 
of El," the great power of nature, which causes and 
controls all the movements of matter; and, symbologi- 
cally, is the place where the moon began to break 
away from the earth. 

But this was not done by a sharp separation; for 
in her course around the earth she drew with her the 
greater part of the waters of the flood, along with 
an immense quantity of loose matter consisting of 
broken rocks and mud, the upper part of which was 
connected with herself and the lower part with the 
earth. As she rose slowly upwards, the great mass 
of water became more and more elongated, and ex- 
tended to a prodigious height. This is Erek, the 
second city in Nimrod's kingdom; and the origin 
of the name shows its identity with the phenomena 
described; for it is derived from arak, "to make long, 
to extend in a straight line" (Ges. Lex.). 

The name of the third city, Akkad, denotes what 
is bound; and this can be explained only by the 
freezing of the waters of the moon, a result which 
would naturally follow from the intense cold of the 
region of space in which she moves. The moon is 
simply an ice-bound world. 1 

1 The rupture and upheaval of great beds of ice of enor- 
mous thickness, by the remains of the huge tidal waves of 
the moon, account for the existence of the precipitous ridges 
and great gulfs in her surface; and the expansion of the 
freezing water, for the great crateriform plains, thirty, forty, 
and fifty miles in diameter, with a central hill thrown up 
by a later outburst. And, in addition to all this, the hun- 
dreds of bright cracks seen on the moon's surface, crossing 



148 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Kalneh, the fourth city, is remarkable for the sym- 
bolism connected with it. Its name, which means the 
" Cloud-crowned, M| is significant of its being the 
highest 2 of the four cities of the land of Shinar (sym- 
bologically equal to the earth) and is descriptive of 
the crown of white clouds or vapours which at this 
time surrounded the moon. 

These four cities are described as being in the 
land of Shinar, an obscure name, the meaning of which 
the symbolism will make clear. It is derived from 
sheni, "twofold," and nar, "to shake out, or off, to 
shake one's self out from bonds/* — the land of the shak- 
ing off; and it is descriptive of the earth at the 
time the moon is shaking itself free from it. The 

both plains and mountains, and extending in some instances 
from a thousand to seventeen hundred miles in length. 
Such cracks, or rills, as they are called, could take place 
only in ice, and could be caused only by the phenomena 
described. 

1 Scholars are agreed in regarding the name of Kalneh 
as obscure and difficult of interpretation. The meaning I 
have given is derived from kalal, "to crown," and ananah, 
"a collection of clouds"; and this is supported by the rab- 
binical tradition that Nimrod was the first who wore a 
crown. The Talmud identifies Kalneh with Nopher (the 
modern Niffer), and explains it as meaning "a crowned 
one"; while Nopher (from nuph, "to lift up, to elevate") 
is the "High City." 

2 A close connection to this interpretation of the name 
of Kalneh is found in the form Kalno, in which it appears 
in Isaiah x. 9, where the change of the termination from 
neh to no is made for a symbological purpose, — no being 
adopted from the name of No-Ammon, and in the Egyptian 
language signifying a measuring line (Ges. Lex. No-Ammon). 
Kalno, therefore, denotes the completion of the symbolism 
which, in the early period of the moon's history, is descriptive 
of the end of her material connection with the earth. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 149 

composition of the word shows that the action was 
mutual. 

Previous to this event taking place, the conjoined 
bodies of the earth and moon revolved around a 
common axis of equilibrium, which was perpendicular 
or nearly so to the plane of their orbit ; but when the 
moon began to sweep off into surrounding space, it 
drew the axis of the earth to one side, so that it was 
no longer upright. Hence the name of Nimrod, 
which denotes one who is perverse, rebellious, or falls 
away from his allegiance; and the traditions which 
describe him as a rebel. 

The statement, "Out of that land [he] went forth 
[into] Asshur, " has reference to the symbolism of the 
east, just as Shinar has to the symbolism of the west. 
Asshur is the bright region above the waters of the 
under world on the eastern side of the earth, out of 
which the sun rises to pursue his glorious course in 
the heavens. But Nimrod belongs to the land of 
Shinar and its symbolism, and when he passes out 
of that land on his way to the rising light of the east, 
he is called Asshur; and this is his name as the builder 
of the three cities of light in the heavens. 

The first of these is Nineveh; and it was to denote 
his passing from west to east through the waters of the 
under world, that the ideograph of Nineveh was the 
picture of a fish inside the city; and it is from nunu, 
"a fish, " it takes its name. But in Asshur the sym- 
bolism of the sun and moon begin to blend together; 
for it is the light of the sun that gives the moon its 
brightness, and Nineveh is the city of the rising sun. 1 

1 ' * Assur-bani-pal, in one of his inscriptions, speaks of 
'the gate of the rising sun in the midst of Nineveh.' " — 
Smith's Assyr. Disc, p. 369. 



iSo The Biblical Account of Creation 

Rehoboth ir, "the outspreadings of the city," are the 
regions of light that extend towards the heavens. 

The name of the second city, Kalah, signifies 
"completion, " and it has reference to the moon's 
completing a distance in her upward course from the 
earth, that made her apparent size the same as that 
of the sun, in accordance with her being ruler of the 
night, as the sun is of the day. 

The third city of Asshur, and the seventh and 
last of the whole series, is Resen, the name of which 
is derived from rasan, "to bind with a bridle, a cord, 
or halter"; and it is descriptive of the earth's pow T er 
of restraining the moon and holding it in its course. 
Thus Resen extends the whole distance between 
Nineveh and Kalah, — the earth and the moon — and, 
therefore, it is, indeed, well described as "the great 
city." 

Nimrod, as the beginning of his history shows, is 
a conception of the moon rushing with increasing and 
excessive swiftness around the earth; but the phe- 
nomena connected with its passing from the midnight 
point through the waters of the under world to the 
east, are denoted by the names of Mitzraim's sons. 
While the great, dark body was thus rushing swiftly 
on its way, the waters of the flood, in wild, tumultuous 
masses were thrown forwards and backwards between 
the two, and this tremendous conflict is described by 
the name of Mitzraim's eldest son, Ludim, "the 
st rivers." 

When the moon receded further from the earth, 
the great mass of waters was divided, but the attrac- 
tion of the two bodies on each other caused the for- 
mation of two stupendous tidal waves in each, whose 
summits, surging upwards to an immense height, 



The Biblical Account of Creation 15c 

broke off from time to time in flying streams. And 
these are denoted by the name of Mitzraim's second 
son, Anamim, which signifies "the dual fountains." 

A third stage of this symbolism is, when the volume 
of the huge tidal waves was lessened by the greater 
distance between the two bodies, and rolled onward 
like two great mountain slopes around them. These 
are the Lehabim, 1 a name descriptive of the smoother 
movement of these mountains of rolling waters, 
which gradually subsided into moderate tides. 

In accordance with the dual form of the name, 
Mitzraim, the land of darkness, consisted of two parts, 
and these are significant of the two sides of the under 
world through which the moon passes. The first of 
these, Naptuhim, — a plural term, as all the names 
must be in this Mitzraitic symbolism, — has been con- 
nected with Nephthys, a designation for the northern 
parts of Egypt; and the second, Pathrusim (from 
Pathros), with the south. Thus along with the sym- 
bolism of the west and east, as shown in the under- 
world course of the moon, we have also the north 
side and the south side symbolized by Naphtuhim 
and Pathrusim. 

In the next phase of the symbolism, the moon is 
enveloped in an atmosphere of dull, watery vapours; 
and these are the Kasluhim, a name descriptive of 
what is large and soft and dull in appearance. The 
earth also was surrounded with masses of dull clouds 
which were drawn upwards like a mountainous tidal 
wave by the attraction of the moon, and rolled after 
her in her course across the sky. These are the 

1 From the root lahab, which primarily signifies "to glide 
over." 



152 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Pelishtim, "the rolling ones, M which came out of the 
Kasluhim, and eventually broke up and disappeared. 
In like manner they disappeared also from the 
moon, and the waters on her surface were frozen by 
the intense cold of the region of space in which she 
moved. The expansion caused by the ever-increasing 
thickness of the ice, broken from time to time by 
tidal-wave action, rent it with great fissures and 
chasms, and threw up precipitous ridges hundreds of 
miles in length, and mountains of enormous height. 
These ice formations are the Kaphtorim, 1 or " cover- 
ings,' ' which completed the formation of the moon, 
and became "the crown, " or sign of that completion. 

Here a higher and more beautiful phase of the sym- 
bolism begins with the sons of Canaan. Of these the 
firstborn was Tzidon, whose name is derived from 
tziid, a verbal root which primarily signifies " to look 
at, to watch"; and it has reference to the breaking 
up of the clouds and vapours which obscured the 
moon and overshadowed the earth. 

Heth, the name of Canaan's second son, is signifi- 
cant of seizing the idea of what is presented to the 
eye, and it is descriptive of the more definite outline 
of the moon as the misty vapours were disappearing, 
and of the clearer view of surrounding objects in the 
more transparent atmosphere of the earth. 

This was the beginning of the great period of light 
upon the earth, when the crescent moon first shone in 
the sky and dispelled the darkness of night ; and there- 

» The singular is kaphtor, which Gesenius {Lex. s. v.) 
describes as a quadriliteral probably compounded from 
the triliteral kaphar, "to cover," and kathar, "to crown." 



The Biblical Account of Creation 153 

fore from this point the names of all the sons of 
Canaan are written with the article ft, ha, a letter 
which, in the symbolism, is the sign of the beginning 
of light; and their names are descriptive of the 
different phases of the moon. 

The first whose name is thus written with the article, 
is Ha-Yebusi, "the Yebusite, " "he who tramples un- 
der foot, as a conqueror, the body of his enemy " ; and 
is descriptive of the bright moon appearing in the 
heavens, and bruising the head of the serpent of night. 

The name of Canaan's next son, Ha-Emori, "the 
Amorite, ,, or "mountaineer, " is derived from the 
verb arnar, the primary meaning of which is " to bear 
forth, to bring to light " (Ges. Lex.) ; and it is descrip- 
tive of the increase in the enlightened part of the 
moon, as it leaves the sun and mounts upward in the 
western sky. 

The Girgashite, "the dweller in clay" (Ges.), is the 
dusky part of the moon, not yet brightened with 
light. 

The Hivvite derives his name from hivvah, which 
signifies "to live," and then the place in which one 
lives. But life is the spiritual side of matter, and the 
two in their relation to each other, are represented by 
light and darkness. Consequently, the Hivvite is 
symbolized by the next phase of the moon, when it is 
half bright with the light which is significant of life, 
and half in the darkness which is significant of matter. 

The Arkite is one that gnaws, and his name is 
descriptive of the advancing light eating its way into 
the darkness on the eroded side of the moon's disc. 

The name of the Sinite connects him with sin, 
"mud," and in the symbolism of the moon it is the 
dark, decrescent part, which is soon to disappear. 



154 The Biblical Account of Creation 

The Arvadite is "the wanderer, " and this is strik- 
ingly descriptive of the moon in its wandering course 
among the stars of the sky. 

The name of the Tzemarite, which is derived from 
tzamar, "to cut, to shear, " denotes the final disap- 
pearance of the darkness, which is cut off, as it were, 
by the bright edge of the moon's disc. 

The last of the sons of Canaan is the Hamathite, 
a name which signifies what is joined together, or 
in affinity, as the new moon with the sun, from which 
it receives its light. 

To the genealogy in which this marvellous and 
beautiful symbolism is embodied, there is added a 
description of the border of the Canaanite, which will 
be explained further on. Suffice it to say here, 
that the border of the Canaanite carries the sym- 
bolism from the moon forward to the light of morning 
and the splendour of the rising sun. 

The third and highest place in the symbolism is 
given to the sons of Shem, who is described as " the 
father of all the children of Eber." The prominence 
of this statement indicates its importance, and it sig- 
nifies that all the sons of Peleg and all the sons of Yok- 
tan are connected together in the symbolism. 

The name of Elam, the first of Shem's sons, has 
been variously interpreted; but, as the symbolism 
connects Shem with the east, and begins at the 
lowest point, Elam's place is at that point in the eastern 
side of the under world. 1 This at once suggests a 
connection of his name with alah, "to rise upwards, 
to ascend," and it denotes the tendency of the moon 

1 "Jensen connects Elamtu (Elam) with illamtu, 'front,' 
and explains 'east region.' " — Encyc. Bib. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 155 

to an upward course in the waters of the under world, 
before it became sufficiently great to pass into the 
symbolism of Asshur, the second son of Shem. 

Asshur is "one who goes straight forward" (Ges.), 
and the name is descriptive of the moon's upward 
course as it began to emerge from the waters of the 
under world. 

The name of Arpakshad, the third son, has been 
the subject of much discussion and diversity of opin- 
ion, and has not yet been satisfactorily explained. 
But the symbolism is of great value in determining 
the composition and meaning of this name. Arpak- 
shad is formed from arpad, "a stay, or support," and 
kasdim, the powers of darkness, — a derivation which 
is confirmed by there being a city Arpad close to 
Hamath, with which the preceding symbolism of the 
sons of Canaan ended. Thus Arpakshad is the 
extreme part of the domain of darkness in the under 
world, 1 from which the moon is struggling to free itself. 

Hence the name of the next son of Shem is Lud, 
"the striver, " which is descriptive of the moon's 
efforts to mount up towards the sky, where it becomes 
Aram, "the high one." 

Here another stage of the symbolism begins with the 
four sons of Aram, — Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash, — 
who have a correspondent relation to the four sec- 
tions of the earth. The name of the first son, Uz, 
has reference to the great quantity of fine loose matter 
washed about by the waters on the surface of the 

1 Perhaps it may not be altogether needless to remark 
that "under world," as here used of the movements of the 
moon, has reference to the whole period of time that the 
moon was closely connected with the earth, during which 
the symbolism was of a dark, under-world character. 



156 The Biblical Account of Creation 

moon. The name of the second son, Hul, is descrip- 
tive of the rotation of the moon and its revolution 
around the earth. 

No satisfactory explanation of the name of Gether 
has been given ; but his symbolism, as the third son of 
Aram, indicates that it is descriptive of an upward 
and onward movement. It is probably formed from 
gaah, "to lift up one's self, to rise," and taar, "to 
run, to extend, to stretch," which would appro- 
priately describe the movements of the ascending 
moon, drawing up with it a great mass of waters, the 
lower part of which was connected with the earth. 
But his name is also paranomastic with y ether, "a 
thing hanging over," "a cord or rope which holds a 
tent to the stakes " ; and this furnishes a striking image 
of the moon and the elongated body of water which 
hangs between it and the earth, and, as it were, holds 
her to it. 

And this symbolism is continued in the name of 
the fourth son, Mash, which is derived from mashah, 
"to draw, to drag out"; and is descriptive of the 
moon's action in drawing out the connecting body 
of water and other matter to a state of attenuation 
that indicates an approaching break. 

Accordingly, this takes place in the time of his 
successor, Shelah, as his name clearly shows; for 
Shelah signifies "a sending forth, or away," and the 
primary notion of the root is "to release, to loosen, 
to let go 11 (Ges.). 

When the great body of waters is at last divided, 1 
the symbolism passes over into another and higher 
stage. Hence the son of Shelah is named Eber, "the 
passer over." 

* This is the dividing of the water spoken of in chapter i. 7. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 157 

Until the dividing of the waters which held the two 
bodies together, the moon was regarded as a part of 
the earth itself. But when the division took place, 
the event is recorded in the Biblical narrative as 
follows : 

"To Eber have two sons been born; the name of 
the one is Peleg [Division], for in his days hath the 
earth been divided, and his brother's name is Yoktan." 

Peleg is the earth, and Yoktan, whose name means 
"the smaller, or the younger one," is the moon. 
Yoktan has thirteen sons, who, with himself, make a 
series of fourteen in all. 

The name of the second of this series is Almodad, 
that is "El measures," 1 a name descriptive of the 
extent of the moon's distance from the earth, as 
determined by the time of her orbital revolution 
and the attractive power of gravity. 

The third is Sheleph, a name derived from shalaph, 
"to draw out," applied to drawing the sword out 
of its scabbard, — here descriptive of the bright blade 
of light drawn out of darkness, on the margin of the 
moon's disc. 

The fourth is Hatzarmaveth, whose name signifies 
"the court of death," and it is a designation for the 
dusky part of the moon's disc, whose darkness is 
connected with death. 

During all this time, the term "moon" has never 
appeared in the Hebrew text, because her formation 
and the conditions which made her an orb of light were 
not yet completed. While she exhibited a bright 
crescent only, the darkness preponderated, and it 
was necessary that one half of her disc should be 

1 See note 3 on Kalneh. 



158 The Biblical Account of Creation 

enlightened before she reached the point required 
by the symbolism. This has now taken place, and, 
accordingly, here the beautiful orb is explicitly 
designated Yarehh, the Moon. 

The sixth of the Yoktanites is Hadoram, that is, 
"the splendour of the high one, " — a name descriptive 
of her beautiful orb when it begins to fill out with 
light. 

The seventh, Uzal, derives his name from azal, "to 
roll off or away"; and it describes the rolling away of 
the remaining darkness from the dusky side of the 
moon as she draws near the full. 

This is the next phase, and she now becomes 
Diklah, "the palm tree." But from time imme- 
morial everywhere throughout the East, the palm 
tree has been the tree of the sun; and how comes it 
that it is here connected with the moon? The sym- 
bolism explains. The name of Diklah is given to the 
moon when she is directly opposite to the sun, at 
which time she rises on the eastern horizon just as 
he is setting in the west, and the two are face to face. 
At this time the moon is full, and her orb, resplendent 
with light, is then most like the sun, whose place she 
comes to take. She is, as it were, a sun to the night; 
and thus the palm tree is connected with her as with 
the sun. 

But night after night she loses a strip of her shining 
disc, which are the bright leaves of the light-giving 
palm tree; and when they are all gone, she becomes 
Obal, the leafless and dark one. 

The next phase of the symbolism is connected with 
Abimael, the tenth of the Yoktanites. His place, the 
twenty-second in the generations of Shem, connects 
him with water and darkness, to which his name also 



The Biblical Account of Creation 159 

has direct reference; for it means "Father of the 
waters of El," a designation which is descriptive of 
the moon's action in causing the phenomena of the 
tides. 

These had their origin, as I have shown, in the 
great tidal waves of an earlier period, which at first 
swept freely around the whole earth, but gradually 
lessened in volume and in height, as they sank down 
into the ocean beds. It is to the phenomena of these 
modified but still great tides, when the waters were 
carried away from the land at regular intervals, and 
their depths laid open, that the name of Sheba, "to 
carry away," has reference. 

The moon, now near the end of its monthly circuit, 
becomes a dark and dusky body, which is appro- 
priately described as Ophir, a term denoting what 
is "sand-coloured, dusky, like earth" (Ges. Lex.). 
Havilah means a turning, or going round, and it 
shows that the monthly circuit of the moon is now 
completed . 

But the symbolism does not end at this point, 
but passes into the beginning of a new circuit, whose 
sign is the name of Yoktan's youngest son, Yobab, 
which means " Yahveh is the gate " lm t and this signifies 
the continuation for all time of the phenomena of 
light and darkness in connection with the monthly 
circuit of the moon. 

But the symbolism of these names is of twofold 

* Just as Bab-el, the "gate of El," the God of nature, 
was the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom, so Yo-bab, "Yahveh 
is the gate," with which the whole series of the symbolism 
ends, is the beginning of the kingdom of Yahveh, the God 
of light and darkness. See the genealogical table. The one 
gate is the counterpart of the other. 



160 The Biblical Account of Creation 

significance, and besides being descriptive of the 
formation of the moon and its becoming an orb of 
light, they are descriptive also of the beginning of life 
upon the earth, and of its growth and development 
through a long series of forms till it reaches its crown- 
ing glory in man. Of this the moon also is a typical 
sign, and the light which gave brightness and beauty 
to its dark body, is significant of the mental light 
which dispelled the nocturnal darkness of the last and 
highest of all earthly creatures. It is, therefore, to 
this wonderful record we must go for the complete 
account of 

THE CREATION OP MAN. 1 

This great event makes it necessary to explain how 
life came to have a beginning upon the earth. Life is 

1 I must here point out that the Biblical narratives speak 
of Adam or man in two different senses as regards the com- 
prehensiveness of the term. In the one he is the earth itself, 
or the principle of life inherent in it, in the other he is a bodily 
creature and the father of the human race. The failure to 
perceive this difference in the use of the term has caused no 
end of difficulties to interpreters. 

Thus the second chapter (vv. 5-7) states that while no 
plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no rain had fallen 
upon it, " Yahveh-Elohim formed the Adam, dust of the 
earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and 
the Adam became a living soul. " But the difficulty will be 
removed and the whole narrative made clear, when I point 
out that the Adam who became a living soul, while the earth 
was a bare and desolate waste, is the principle of life, which 
at this time, under the influence of certain conditions (e. g., 
the flood) was awakening within it. Accordingly, Adam's 
becoming a living soul is immediately followed by the pro- 
duction of plants, which ultimately form a luxuriant vegeta- 
tion, described as the garden of Eden. And this explains 



The Biblical Account of Creation 161 

inherent in all matter, but is manifested only under 
certain conditions. There could be no organic life 
upon the earth when it was a luminous body, or when 
its exhausted fires left it covered with a hard, black 
crust, still hot from the molten matter beneath, and 
without rains to soften its scoriaceous surface and 
supply the moisture necessary for the production of 
protoplasmic cells. It was only when the waters of the 
flood, and the moon in its resistless course around the 
earth, had destroyed the hard, igneous mountains, and 
formed new lands from the bed of the sea, that 
protoplastic matter could be produced and life 
begin upon the earth. Hence it is that the names 
of these lands are significant of the origin and 
development of living creatures, especially of man, 
whose formation from the dust of the earth completes 
the work of creation. 

Accordingly, the first of the sons of Yapheth is 
Gomer, which means "completion," and is parano- 
mastic with chomer, the clay of which man is made, 1 
and which is the protoplasm of modern scientists. 

This was first formed at the time of the flood by the 
action of water and heat on the dust of the pulverized 
rocks, which caused a new combination of their ele- 
ments in minute particles, that were readily affected 
by the sun's rays, the continued action of which 

how it was that the Adam was made before the garden was 
planted, and before the beasts of the field and the fowl of the 
heavens were formed out of the ground. 

But it is to Adam as a bodily creature, and the father of the 
human race, that the present account of the creation of man, 
has reference. 

1 See Job xxxiii. 6, where Elihu says to Job, "I also am 
formed out of clay" (chomer). 



1 62 The Biblical Account of Creation 

caused a molecular arrangement into plastic cells ; and 
by the growth and aggregation of these the bodies of 
all living creatures were formed. But it took ages to 
produce even the simplest organisms. 

Of this marvellous process only the general phe- 
nomena are indicated by the names of the sons 
of Yapheth, and a few words will suffice for their 
interpretation. 

The significance of the name of Gomer, which is 
the sign of the whole symbolism, and its connection 
with chorner, the first protoplastic matter, have al- 
ready been explained. 

Magog, usually taken to signify the great or high 
mountain, or moon land, is an appropriate symbo- 
logical term for the great mountain of life, which 
rises heavenward from the earth. But the latter part 
of the name, gog, has also a reference to gag, the top 
of an altar; and this is still more striking and descrip- 
tive, for an altar, in all ancient symbolism, represents 
the earth, and the fire upon it is the symbol of life. 

Madai, the next in order, proceeds, as it were, 
out of Magog; for the name means "to extend, to 
stretch out," and is the beginning and significant 
symbol of life throughout its whole extent, from the 
first sentient matter that existed on the earth to man, 
the highest and noblest of all earthly creatures. 

The name of Yavan is descriptive of matter in a 
state of fermentation, as wine, the spirit in which is a 
symbol of the active principle of life. In the name of 
Tubal, which is derived from the root tub, "to turn 
back, to return, " there is a reference to the retractive 
movements connected with the presence of sensation. 
Meshek, a derivative from mashak, "to draw/' as to 
one's self, is descriptive of the action of the principle 



The Biblical Account of Creation 163 

of life on the matter in contact with it, just as leaven 
forms cells in the surrounding dough, and assimilates 
it. Tiras signifies a more advanced state of this 
process, and denotes the formation of living tissue. 

These seven are all immediate sons of Yapheth, 
the spreading one, and they complete the first period 
of development connected with the phenomena of 
life. The second period is characterized by a more 
remarkable advance in vital action, beginning with 
the movements of certain parts of the living thing, by 
which it made a change of place, and ending with free 
impulsive motion. Therefore, this period begins 
with the name of Ashkenaz, w^hich signifies a moving 
from place to place by intermittent efforts. 

The name denoting the next stage of this period 
is Riphath, a derivative from ruph, " to rub, to make 
into small parts"; and it is descriptive both of 
fissiparous reproduction in the lower forms of living 
things, and of the production of ovules. 

Togarmah, the third name in the symbolism of this 
period, signifies a grating or scraping movement, 
and is descriptive of the first efforts of the creeping 
things of the waters to crawl out upon the land. 

The change from the waters to the surface of the dry 
land, and the quickening action of the air, stimulated 
their vital powers into more active development; and 
thus it is that Elishah, whose name is the sign of this 
great advance in the condition of animal life, is son of 
Yavan, that is, of the first vital action in protoplastic 
matter. And the free movement of living creatures 
on the face of the dry land, corresponds to the sym- 
bolism of the moon, when it began to move freely 
upon the face of the earth, of which also Elishah was 
the sign. 



1 64 The Biblical Account of Creation 

This new condition of life could not fail to bring into 
existence other powers connected with its develop- 
ment. These began with instinct, which had its 
origin in the movements of highly sensitive matter 
under the influence of external causes. But in order 
that the phenomena which characterize the later and 
higher forms of living creatures should be brought into 
existence, the darkness which was originally connected 
with them must be dispelled by the growing brightness 
of the light of life. The sign of this is Tarshish, which 
denoted the destruction of the limits between light 
and darkness by the moon in the under world of the 
west; and, correspondingly, the dispelling of the 
original darkness of animal life by the growth of in- 
stinctive and perceptive powers, the latent state of 
which is denoted by their sign Kittim, "the hidden." 
The last name, Dodanim, is significant of sexual 
distinction. 

Passing now to the generations of Ham, the hot 
charred earth, we find the conditions in which life had 
its origin and development, described in connection 
with the waters of the flood. His eldest son, Kush, 
who has been already connected with the dark waters 
of the western under world, is connected also with the 
dark waters which covered the earth at the beginning 
of the flood. And the name of the eldest son of Kush, 
Seba, is descriptive of the drinking up of the waters 
by the fiery cavities and fissures of the hot crust of the 
earth. These are the two elements which may be de- 
scribed as fire and water, in whose interaction and 
union the first protoplastic matter was produced. 

The name of Havilah, the second son of Kush, 
which is derived from ch-M, "to turn around, to 



The Biblical Account of Creation 165 

quake, to tremble," is descriptive of the first faint 
movements connected with the beginning of life in 
matter. And, accordingly, chill is the very term 
used in describing the writhing of a woman in labour. 

The third son is Sabtah, which means a drinking 
place, and it has reference to the places where the 
presence of water and other conditions favoured the 
production of protoplastic matter. And here, in 
course of time, it began to exhibit a trembling, 
quivering movement, which is described by the name 
of Raamah. 

These simple forms of dawning life were as yet 
without power to move from place to place; but the 
feeble efforts they instinctively made by extension and 
retraction of the two ends of their bodies, led to the 
formation of rudimentary organs or members, one on 
each side of their extremities. In like manner, other 
organs also originated in rudimentary forms, all of 
which acted together in the development of the liv- 
ing creatures. And the verb takah, from which the 
latter part of the name Sabteka, now given them, 
is derived, is descriptive of the actions producing both 
these results; for it means not only "to lie down or 
upon," so as to hold to the surface over which the 
creeping thing was making efforts to drag itself along, 
but also " to be fitted, joined, " as part to part. 

In the next stage these rudimentary organs are 
partly developed, and the living creatures move about 
from one place to another, as indicated by the name 
of Sheba, a derivative from shabah, "to carry off or 
away." But for a while their efforts were feeble and 
their progress slow, and this is signified by the name 
of Dedan, which is descriptive of "going slowly and 
softly." 



1 66 The Biblical Account of Creation 

The account of Nimrod and his cities, which is given 
at this point in the Biblical narrative, is so far re- 
moved from the simple living creatures just spoken of, 
and so different in its whole character, it does not 
seem possible that it can have any connection with 
them. But a most important connection does ex- 
ist as the symbolism will show; for Nimrod is a con- 
ception of the newly made moon, and the moon 
it was which, at the time of the flood, was the ark 
which preserved the seed of life. Thus the moon is 
the typical symbol of the world of organic life. Like 
the living creatures of which that world consisted, the 
moon in its first circuits around the earth went 
11 slowly and softly"; but its speed kept increasing 
more and more as it rushed along on the top of the 
great flood-wave, like a horseman on his horse, and 
hence came the figurative conception of " the mighty 
hunter before Yahveh." 

This shows that predaceous habits were predomi- 
nant among the living creatures of that period, all of 
which dwelt in the waters ; and these habits stimulated 
the development of their organs of motion, and en- 
abled them, like hunters, to pursue their prey. Thus 
the history of Nimrod presents us with the grandest 
and most striking symbolism ever connected with the 
beginning of animal life. 

Not less wonderful is the symbolism of his cities. 
Babel, which is the beginning of Nimrod' s kingdom, 
and which, with deep significance, is described as 
"confusion," 1 denotes a period of imperfect and irreg- 
ular forms, which preceded by a long time the con- 
tinuous production of creatures of like structure 
and habits, which established the existence of species. 

1 Gen. xi. 9. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 167 

This is connected with the symbolism of the city 
of Erek, the name of which denotes what is long or 
extended, and has reference to the continuous pro- 
duction of a long line of living creatures of the same 
kind. Hence it is that the account of Nimrod's 
cities is given at this point in the Biblical narrative, 
and begins with Babel, the city of " confusion. " 

The name of his third city, Akkad, meaning what 
is bound, made strong, is descriptive of the endurance 
of specific types, which cannot be violently broken. 
Kalneh, the fourth city, is, as its name signifies, the 
"crown" of Nimrod's kingdom, to which the highest 
of all earthly creatures, man himself, belongs. 

The cities of Asshur are the cities of the light of 
heaven, that is, of the light which begins with the 
gray dawn of instinct in living creatures, and, grow- 
ing stronger and brighter in the intelligence of the 
higher animals, appears in its greatest splendour in the 
God-like intellect of man. 

Just as the material forms of living creatures began 
in the darkness and confusion of Babel, so their in- 
stinct and intelligence begin in Nineveh, the first of 
the cities of Asshur. And Rehoboth Ir, "the out- 
spreadings of the city," denotes the development of 
instinct in living creatures and its expansion into the 
light of intelligence. The highest point of the sym- 
bolism is Kalah, the city of intellectual and spiritual 
light, in which man, the noblest of all earthly crea- 
tures, and the image of his Maker, dwells. And 
the continuity of this development through all its 
different degrees of instinct, intelligence, and intellect 
is denoted by the symbolism of "a cord or line," in 
the name of the city Resen, ! " between Nineveh and 
* See Ges., Lex, 



1 68 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Kalah, this is the great city. M Here, in the expres- 
sion, "the great city," the exactness of the Biblical 
text in the smallest matters of the symbolism is seen; 
for the letter H. He, the written form of the article, 
is itself the sign of light. 

Thus the symbolism of Nimrod and his cities, 
connects the earth and the heavens — the darkness 
of insentient matter and the light of life. With it 
the creation of man as a living creature, distinguished 
from all other living creatures, begins. Mitzraim, 
as I have already shown, is connected in the symbolism 
with the waters of the under world; and the sons of 
Mitzraim, the first creatures named after the des- 
cription of Nimrod's cities, were developed from 
the creeping things of the waters, which preceded 
them. This was owing in a measure to the efforts 
of the creatures themselves to move more quickly, as 
well as to their struggles with each other. Hence the 
first of the sons of Mitzraim are called Ludim, "the 
st rivers." 

The next stage in their development is character- 
ized by the beginning of sexual distinction ; and this 
is signified by the name of Mitzraim's second son, 
Anammim, which means the "two fountains" (of 
life), that is, the two sexes from which all but the 
lowest living creatures proceed. 

Accordingly, the name of his third son is Lehabim, 
which, under the symbolism of the overlapping of a 
flame of fire, denotes the co-ition of the sexes. 

The name of Mitzraim's fourth son, Naphtuhim, 
is one which interpreters have found it difficult to 
explain. Some connect it with the name of Nephthys, 
the wife of Typhon, which was given to the northern 
coast of Egypt. But it is derived from the Niphal 



The Biblical Account of Creation 169 

form of the verb pathach, signifying "to be opened," 
and it has reference to the open world of the dry land, 
to which the living creatures of the waters are now 
beginning to betake themselves. And it is remark- 
able that Plutarch explains Nephthys, as " the ex- 
treme border of the land washed by the sea. " 

For a long time they were limited to the low shores 
close to the waters, but, eventually, as they became 
true air-breathing creatures, they reached the high 
grounds at a greater distance, and dwelt there as 
creatures of the land. Hence they are now called 
Pathrusim, the people of Pathros, the name of 
Upper Egypt. 

In course of time they increased in size and physi- 
cal development, but they were as yet without in- 
telligence; and it is with reference to this they are 
described as Kasluhim, 1 "the dull ones." 

But, like the dulness of the dark, gray dawn, it was 
the first indication of the coming light of day. The 
one proceeds out of the other 2 ; and, accordingly, the 
Biblical narrative makes the explicit statement, that 
the Pelishtim, 2 the living creatures which had the 
first flitting notions of the world around them, came 
out of the Kasluhim. 

It is important here to point out the continuity of 
the operations of nature, in producing the phenomena 
of life and intelligence. Beginning with protoplasmic 
matter in its inorganic state, there is no break be- 
tween the expansion and contraction of the first small 

1 From the root kasal, which has a twofold meaning, "to be 
strong, " and also "to be dull, stupid" (Ges., Lex.). 

2 So named from palash, * ' to wander, to move about in an 
uncertain way," which is descriptive of the first vague 
notions of the creatures to which it gave a name. 



170 The Biblical Account of Creation 

unshapen masses, caused by light and heat, and the 
movements by which an individual part of that matter 
makes a change of place; and there is no break be- 
tween the tendency of such a body to make a change 
of place, and the instinctive movements of living 
creatures, by which, in a more advanced state of 
development, this is accomplished; and there is no 
break between the instinctive movements made under 
certain conditions, and the intelligence of the higher 
animals which directs them; and there is no break, 
but that caused by a special development, between 
this intelligence and the intellect of man. 

The point has now been reached at which the mar- 
vellous phenomena of mental images, produced by the 
action of light, has begun to be impressed on highly 
sentient matter. The flitting ideas of the Pelishtim 
have become more definite and lasting in the Kaph- 
torim, a name, as before explained, formed from two 
verbal roots, one (kaphar) signifying "to cover, " and 
the other (kathar), "to crown/' which is descriptive 
of the head of a column, encircled with buds and 
flowers. 1 The symbolism is of great beauty and 
significance. The Kaphtorim are the head of the 
great pillar which is to support the glorious superstruc- 
ture of mental and intellectual life ; and the buds and 
opening flowers with which the hand of the Divine 
architect has beautified it are the signs of the budding 
thoughts and unfolding ideas in the creature which 
is soon to become man. 

The different stages of development in the next 
period are denoted by the names of the sons of 
Canaan. But first, it is necessary to show what 
is signified by the name of Canaan. Kana, the root 

1 See Ges., Lex. t s. v. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 171 

from which it is derived, has a twofold meaning: first, 
"to bend the knee," and, secondly, "to collect, to 
gather." The bending of the knee has a most im- 
portant significance; for it shows that the highest 
of all living creatures of the earth did not, as yet, 
walk upright upon his feet; and, in its second and 
more abstract sense, it denotes the beginning of 
mental efforts to think. 

The name of Canaan's eldest son, Tzidon, has also a 
twofold meaning: one, "to lie in wait, to watch,' ' 
indicating his pursuit of living prey; and the other, 
"to fix the eyes upon any thing, to look at" (Ges., 
Lex.) , in which the habits of the observant creature are 
accurately described by the definition of the lexicon. 
With this, the name of Canaan's second son, Heth, 
signifying one who seizes, is closely connected; for it 
applies both to the seizing of prey, and of ideas, which 
have their origin in sight. 

At this time a remarkable change took place in 
the posture and movements of the living creature. 
He no longer crept upon the earth, but stood upright, 
and walked upon his feet. And this is described in the 
name now given to him, ha-Yebusi, "the tramper, 
the treader under foot." This upright posture gave 
him greater height, and thus he became ha-Emori, 
"the tall one," — a name which is also descriptive 
of mental arrangement, 1 and denotes that he is now 
beginning to put his ideas in order. But there was 
much dulness in his mental efforts, and his ideas were 
still indefinite and confused, — a condition which is 
figuratively described by the name ha-Girgashi, "the 
clayey or muddled one." 

In the course of time his mind became clearer and 

1 See Ges., Lex., s. v. 



172 The Biblical Account of Creation 

his physical organization perfected. The name which 
indicates this twofold development is ha-Hivvi, u the 
Hivvite," the root of which, hivvah, signifies "to 
live," and also "the place in which one lives (Ges., 
Lex.) ; and in the symbolism it denotes that the mental 
light is now equivalent to the darkness of matter. I 
have already explained this in connection with the 
moon, when it is half in light and half in darkness. 
Thus the name Hivvi denotes a half-enlightened be- 
ing. * The Arkite, a name signifying " one who gnaws 
or eats away," is descriptive of the decrease of the 
mental darkness yet existing in man's nature, and 
the Sinite, of its final disappearance. 

But for a long time the notions and ideas of the 
incipient man were vague and unsettled; and, ac- 
cordingly, the name of the Arvadite, " the w T anderer, " 
is given him with reference to the wandering and be- 
wilderment of his thoughts. Eventually, like one 
who cuts an opening through a thicket, to see beyond 
him, he clears away the obstructions to his mental 
vision, and, therefore, he is called the Tzemarite, 2 
"the cutter off," that is, of what is wild and confus- 
ing in his ideas, which he prunes and puts into shape. 

« It is remarkable that the name Hivvi is explained by 
Ewald as Binnenlander, that is, "Meanders." 

2 The term Tzemarite is derived from tzamar, "to cut off, 
to shear" (as a sheep); and it shows that at this time the 
hair which had covered the body of man, just as it covered 
the lower animals, was disappearing, in sign of his emerging 
from the state of animal darkness, and becoming a being 
guided by intellectual light. And it is with reference to the 
total disappearance of animal darkness in man, that in the 
garden of Eden, when his mental development had reached 
the point of distinguishing between good and evil, it is re- 
corded that "the man and his wife were both naked. " 



The Biblical Account of Creation 173 

The last of the sons of Canaan is the Hamathite, 
a name which signifies "a joining together, or in 
affinity"; and it denotes that man's mental concep- 
tions, so closely akin to the power of reasoning, have 
at last been united with it, and prepared him to 
understand the wonders of the world around him. 

The description of the border of the Canaanite 
forms an important part of this symbolism: 

" And the border of the Canaanite is from Tzidon, in 
thy going towards Gaza, unto Gerar; in thy going 
towards Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Tze- 
boiim, unto Lasha." 

The border of the Canaanite is, symbologically, 
the border between light and darkness. Tzidon is 
the western point of the earth, where the eye of man 
begins to be directed to the bright region of light 
beyond. Gerar 1 is where the setting sun turns aside 
on the horizon to sojourn for the night. Gaza is the 
strong city of darkness. Sodom 2 is the place of the 
sunset fires low down in the burning west; and 
Gomorrah, the name of which is descriptive of over- 
whelming waters, 3 is the dark waters of the under 
world. Admah is the earth in the red light of morn- 
ing, and it denotes the beginning of an intellectual 
nature in man (Adam). Tzeboiim, 4 which denotes 

1 See the root gur, "to turn aside for the purpose of so- 
journing. " 

2 From sadam, "to burn, to consume with fire. " (Ges., Lex.) 

3 See Ges., Lex. s. v. 

4 This word has a twofold meaning both derived from the 
verb tzabah; first, a coming forth or appearing, as the rays of 
the rising sun, or of the stars, the bright host of heaven; and, 
second, as a term for antelopes, animals noted for their 
swiftness. In the interpretation tzeboiim denotes the host 
of thoughts and ideas which were coming forth in the mind 



174 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the splendours of approaching day, is descriptive of 
the increasing brightness of man's intellect. Lasha, 
to which the remaining part of the border extends, 
is a chink or fissure in the earth, or the outlet of a 
fountain, — here it is the opening in the bright clouds 
on the eastern horizon, through which the light of 
day flows out upon the earth. 

Under this beautiful symbolism of the light which 
precedes the rising of the sun and is connected with it, 
are made known man's power of perceiving the true 
relation of things around him, of forming definite 
mental images, of thinking continuously, and of 
beginning to express his thoughts in human speech; 
for the fissure or outlet of the fountain is significant of 
the mouth of man, and of the outflow of his thoughts 
and feelings; and the symbolism is completed by the 
close connection between Lasha, the fissure, and 
lashon, the tongue. 



Next follows the history of this development as 
symbolized in the generations of Shem. Elam, his 
first son, is man in the early dawn of his existence 
as an intelligent creature. Asshur, the name of his 
second son, is descriptive of his assuming an erect 
posture, and of his upward course towards the upper 
world of light. Arpakshad is the darkness of his 
earlier state, which still hangs over him; and Lud, 
the strife between light and darkness within him. 
But light triumphs, and he rises out of the lower 
world of darkness, and becomes Aram, " the high one. " 

The more extended view he now has of the world 

of man, and his quickness in seizing them. The symbolism is 
most striking and beautiful. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 175 

brings so many things before him, that his ideas crowd 
upon him, without as yet leaving permanent impres- 
sions; and this is signified by the name of Uz, which 
is descriptive of light, sandy soil, in which the foot of 
the passer by leaves no clear and lasting print. But 
all the while he is making efforts to think; and his 
mental struggling to give birth to his thoughts is 
accurately described by the name of Hul, which de- 
notes the writhing of a woman in labour. 

The name of Gether, as already explained, shows 
that man was nearing the point where his mental 
intelligence would surpass his animal instincts. The 
nearer he approached it, the more quickly did his 
mental faculties develop, and draw him more and more 
out of the diminishing darkness of his original animal 
condition; and hence the name of Mash, which is de- 
scriptive of drawing out. 

His power of perceiving and thinking is now in- 
dicated by the name of Shelah, which signifies "a 
sending out," that is, of his perceptions and thoughts 
in the observation of the world around him. The 
special statement here made of Shelah's origin, that 
"Arpakshad begat Shelah," is of the greatest im- 
portance; for Arpakshad, as already shown, means 
"the stronghold of darkness," that is, of the mental 
darkness of the lower animals ; and that this was the 
source of the intellectual perceptions and thoughts of 
Shelah is explicitly stated in the record, "Arpakshad 
begat Shelah." 

At this point man passed over the horizon line 
which divided the lower world of animal darkness 
from the upper world of mental and intellectual light ; 
and, accordingly, his passing from the one to the other 
is denoted by the name of Eber, "the passer over/ 9 



176 The Biblical Account of Creation 

And just as Arpakshad begat Shelah, so " Shelah 
begat Eber, " a statement which carries the continu- 
ity of this mental development into the higher world, 
to which man now belongs. 

The dividing between man and the living creatures 
of a lower and more material nature is the dividing 
of the earth in the days of Peleg; and Yoktan, who 
becomes the bright orb of the moon, is the symbol 
of man in the first period of his existence as an intel- 
lectual and reasoning being. 

Here, corresponding to the border of the Canaanite, 
which began at Tzidon in the west, and ended with 
the rising of the morning light, at Lasha, in the east, 
is the record of the dwelling-place of the sons of 
Yoktan. In the words of the Biblical narrative: — ■ 

"Their dwelling is from Mesha, in thy coming 
towards Sephar, the mountain of the east." 

Mesha, as already explained, is derived from the 
verb mashahy which signifies "to draw up, or out" 
specially, to draw out of the water; and it denotes here 
the point of emergence from the darkness of man's 
animal nature, into the upper world of mental and 
intellectual light. And Sephar, the mountain of the 
east, 1 is the mountain of light and knowledge, 2 to- 
wards which he now directs his way. 

Thus the history of man from his origin in the 
dust of the earth, and his existence in numberless 
animal forms, as a creeping thing of the waters, and 
afterwards as a creature of the land, till he stood up- 

1 Compare "the mountain of the sunrise, " spoken of in an 
ancient Akkadian hymn (Chald. Acct. of Gen., p. 150). 

2 This is strikingly signified by its name, which is de- 
rived from the verb saphar, descriptive of writing, counting, 
narrating, recording, etc. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 177 

right on his feet and became the lord and master 
of the earth, with power to express his thoughts and 
feelings in human speech, are all embodied in the 
generations of the sons of Noah; and are symbolized 
by the moon, " the faithful witness in the sky. " * 



The number of the next chapter, eleven, is of a 
transitional character between ten, the cycle of the 
earth, and twelve, the cycle of the celestial bodies ; or, 
in other words, between the world of matter, that is 
the dark earth, and the world of mental and in- 
tellectual light. Accordingly, the eleventh chapter 
consists of two parts, the first relating to the physical 
history of the earth, the second to man's condition as 
an intelligent and intellectual being. 

The chapter begins with the record of an event 
which, at first sight, seems to have no connection with 
what precedes it, and which is as follows: 

GENESIS XL 

1. And the whole earth is of one lip, and one 
way of speaking. 

2. And it cometh to pass, in their going east- 
ward, that they come to a plain in the land of 
Shinar, and they dwell there. 

3. And they say one to another, Go to, let us 
make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And 
the brick is to them for stone, and the slime hath 
been to them for mortar. 

4. And they say, Go to, let us build us a city 

i Psalms lxxxix. 37. 



178 The Biblical Account of Creation 

and tower, and the head of it in the heavens; and 
make us a monument, that we be not scattered 
over the face of all the earth. 

5. And Yahveh cometh down to see the city 
and the tower which the sons of men have 
builded. 

6. And Yahveh saith, Behold, the people is one, 
and one lip to them all; and this is what they have 
set about doing : and now they will be kept back 
from nothing that they have purposed to do. 

7. Go to, let us 1 go down, and confound there 
their lip, that a man doth not understand his 
fellow's way of speaking. 

8. And Yahveh scattereth them from there 
over the face of all the earth; and they leave off 
building the city. 

9. Therefore hath the name of it been called 
Babel; because Yahveh hath confounded there 
the lip of all the earth: and from there hath 
Yahveh scattered them over the face of all the 
earth. 

The event here recorded took place soon after the 
flood, and is connected with it. But the phenomena 
which brought it about are of earlier origin. For a 
long time the great rapidity of the earth's rotation 

1 The presence of the consiliar "us, " corresponds to its 
occurrence in the twenty-sixth verse of the first chapter, 
where Elohim, the God of nature, includes the unnamed 
Yahveh with himself; while here, Yahveh, the God of law and 
order, includes the unnamed Elohim with himself. See 
also chapter iii. 22, where "us" has clear reference to the 
twofold name, Yahveh-Elohim. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 179 

on its axis had thrown the middle or equatorial 
part up into a ridge of great breadth and height, 
which ran all the way round about it from west to 
east. This is the great lip spoken of in the beginning 
of the narrative, — "And the whole earth is of one 
lip." But the word siphah, "lip," also means 
" Language, " and this twofold meaning is part of the 
symbolism; for it has both a physical and a moral 
significance. And so with the term dibarim, usually 
rendered "words" or "speech," but which, in its 
primary and physical sense, denotes "things placed 
in order," or following one another (Ges. Lex.), and 
is here descriptive of the one direction (from west to 
east) in which the broken parts of the earth's crust 
were thrown by its quick rotation. It is these that 
are spoken of by the general term "they," and their 
journeying was of course eastward. 

The same force that carried them in this direction 
had been whirling the moon onward round about the 
earth, with increasing rapidity, and at last had cast it 
off altogether. Hence this part of the earth is called 
the land of Shinar, 1 that is, of the casting off; and the 
great flat or depression where the event took place, 
is the biqah, or plain of Shinar. When they reached it 
they could go no further, "and they dwelt there." 

At the time of the casting off, just as the moon had 
risen slightly clear of the earth, the loose fragments 
of its crust that were carried eastward by its rotation, 
to the land of Shinar, were drawn together by the 

1 See IJi-J i naar, " to shake off, to be shaken out, i. e.,"cast 
out from a land'' (Ges. Lex.). The first letter £?, Shin, 
is an important sign in the symbolism, and denotes the be- 
ginning of a period of light, that is, of the light of the moon. 



180 The Biblical Account of Creation 

moon's attraction, and formed a great protuberance 
from the top of which an elongated body, consisting 
of small fragments of the earth's crust, intermixed 
with clay and water, reached upwards to the moon, 
and rose higher and higher with it, as it ascended 
towards the sky, and all swept around the earth 
together. 

This is the great tower whose head was in the heav- 
ens, and the city was the protuberant mass of rocks 
eicircling its base. The bricks which they made and 
burned are the charred fragments of the earth's crust, 
and the clime is the viscous clay formed by the waters 
of the flood. 

The coming down of Yahveh to see the city and the 
tower, denotes that a point has been reached beyond 
which the height of the tower could not be continued; 
and his purpose to confound their language, so that 
a man could not understand his fellow's way of speak- 
ing, means the destruction of the tower and the 
diminishing of the rapidity of the earth's rotation, 
so that its projectile force could no longer add to 
the growth of the city. Therefore " Yahveh scattereth 
them from there, over the face of all the earth, and 
they leave off building the city. " 

But this calls for further explanation. While 
the moon was rising from the earth, the great body 
of water connected with the tower became more and 
more attenuated, till at last, in the time of Peleg, 
it parted, and the lower mass fell down in a mighty 
cataclysm upon the city, sweeping it away, and scat- 
tering the rocks of which it was built far and wide 
upon the earth. This explains why " they leave off 
building the city," and why nothing is said about 
the tower. The destruction was complete, and the 



The Biblical Account of Creation 181 

Biblical narrative describes the result, by giving to 
Bab-el, "the gate of El," the symbological meaning 
of " confusion.' ' 



The second part of this chapter begins with the 
history of man's development from the condition of 
an erect intelligent creature, to his reaching the point 
at which he becomes an intellectual and reasoning be- 
ing, who is conscious of the existence of God. The 
development of this idea is connected with the gene- 
rations of Shem ; and, in accordance with the cyclical 
character of the number ten, the history of the genera- 
tions of Shem, 1 begins with the tenth verse : — 

10. And these are the generations of' Shem. 
Shem is a hundred years old, and begetteth 
Arpakshad two years after the flood. 

ii. And Shem liveth after his begetting 
Arpakshad five hundred years, and begetteth 
sons and daughters. 

12. And Arpakshad hath lived 2 five and thirty 
years, and begetteth Shelah. 

13. And Arpakshad liveth after his begetting 
Shelah four hundred and three years, and begetteth 
sons and daughters. 

14. And Shelah hath lived 2 thirty years, and 
begetteth Eber. 

1 The symbolism of the three sons of Noah shows that 
there were three original branches of the human race. 

2 Instead of the present tense of the verb, "liveth, " which 
is used regularly in the generations of Shem, Arpakshad and 
Shelah have the perfect tense, "hath lived." The purpose 
for which this form of the verb is used in connection with these 



1 82 The Biblical Account of Creation 

15. And Shelah liveth after his begetting Eber 
four hundred and three years, and begetteth sons 
and daughters. 

16. And Eber liveth four and thirty years, 
and begetteth Peleg. 

17. And Eber liveth after his begetting Peleg 
four hundred and thirty years, and begetteth sons 
and daughters. 

18. And Peleg liveth thirty years and beget- 
teth Reu. 

19. And Peleg liveth after his begetting Reu 
two hundred and nine years, and begetteth sons 
and daughters. 

20. And Reu liveth two and thirty years and 
begetteth Serug. 

21. And Reu liveth after his begetting Serug 
two hundred and seven years, and begetteth sons 
and daughters. 

22. And Serug liveth thirty years and beget- 
teth Nahor. 

23. And Serug liveth after his begetting Na- 
hor two hundred years, and begetteth sons and 
daughters. 

24. And Nahor liveth nine and twenty years 
and begetteth Terah. 

25. And Nahor liveth after his begetting 
Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and beget- 
teth sons and daughters. 

two, is symbological, — they belong to the lower world of 
animal darkness, and the change in the form of the verb is to 
denote the completion of their symbolism. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 183 

26. And Terah liveth seventy years, and be- 
getteth Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 

The number of years here assigned to the lives of 
the sons of Shem, are, like those of the generations 
of Adam (chapter v), purely symbological ; and the 
three sons of Terah form a symbolic group corre- 
sponding to the three sons of Noah. 

The history of man's mental development from 
Arpakshad, the last stronghold of darkness, when 
his young intellect began to strive with his animal 
instincts, to Peleg, when its superiority separated 
him from all other living creatures, has been already 
explained. Of this separation, Yoktan, who was 
ultimately to become a bright orb of light in the heav- 
ens, was the typical sign; and, in like manner, the 
successive stages of man's mental enlightenment are 
represented by the sons of Yoktan, which are the 
phases of the moon. 

Thus the name of Reu, by which man is now 
designated, denotes one who is in affinity with an- 
other, as the dark earth in relation to the dark moon. 
It also signifies one who feeds, and is descriptive of 
man's efforts to feed his young, child-like mind with 
a knowledge of the things he sees around him, like 
the new moon in the spreading light. 

The growth of his mind, which is like that of 
a young plant, putting forth shoots in all directions, 
is characteristically described by the next name 
given him, Serug, "a young shoot or branch." But 
this brief definition does not fully express the symbol- 
ism. The verb sarag, from which the name is 
derived, signifies "to interweave, to braid, to weave 
together." And this implies confused notions of 



184 The Biblical Account of Creation 

surrounding objects, which man was endeavouring 
to make clear to himself by observing the extent and 
relations of the phenomena they presented, which, 
in the symbolism of the moon, is signified by the name 
of Almodad, "the measurer. " 

In the next stage of his mental development, he 
becomes Nahor, 1 a name descriptive of one who 
breathes hard through his nostrils; and it denotes 
man's beginning to breathe eagerly the breath of 
intellectual life. And this is shown in a striking and 
most beautiful way by the name of Sheleph, 2 given 
to the moon in the corresponding phase of its sym- 
bolism, where the crescent of light represents the 
bright blade of man's intellect, 3 which he is now 
drawing out of its sheath of darkness. 

But the time required for the dispelling of the 
darkness is long, and man often tarries on the way. 
Hence he is described as Terah, "the delayer or 
tarrier. " In the typical symbolism of the moon this 
darkness is represented by its dusky body, which is 
strikingly named Hatzarmaveth, "the court of 
death. " It still occupies the greater part of her 
disc, but it is gradually lessening in the spreading 
light. 

At this point in the history of the human race, 
Abram, the son of Terah, appears, who, in his physical 
and mental development, was the first true representa- 
tive of man. And this is clearly signified by the typi- 
cal symbolism of the moon, whose light now covers 

1 From nachar, "to snore, to snort," said of the neighing 
of a horse. 

2 From the verb shalaph, ' ' to draw out or forth, especially, 
a sword from the sheath" (Ges., Lex.). 

3 Compare "the sword of the spirit" (Eph. vi. 17). 



The Biblical Account of Creation 185 

one half of her divided disc, the turning point where 
it begins to prevail over the darkness x ; and, accord- 
ingly, she here receives, for the first time, her ap- 
propriate name, Ye rah, the Moon, which shows that 
the name of Abram, the High father, has a corres- 
ponding significance as a designation for man. 

Thus all this marvellous symbolism which began 
with the name of Gomer, and the protoplastic matter 
in which the simplest animal life had its origin, is 
completed in Abram; and this is specially signified 
by the number of his name, 243, which is the same as 
the number of Gomer, the one being the first in the 
whole series of the symbolism and the other the last? 

Abram was the youngest of the three sons of Terah; 
but the symbolism required that he should be named 
first, to make his serial number ten, the sign of the 
completed cycle of man's development as signified by 
the moon. The names of Nahor and Haran, which 
follow, carry the symbolism on to twelve, where the 
moon coincides with the sun, which now becomes the 
resplendent sign of man as a being replete with men- 
tal and intellectual light. This will be shown further 
on in connection with the symbolism of Abram. 

The events connected with this change of the 
symbolism from the moon to the sun are recorded in 
the generations of Terah. The sign of this change 
is eleven, which is also the difference between 
the number of days in a lunar year, 354, and the 

1 See the Scheme of the Solar- Lunar Symbolism of the 
Generations of Terah, further on. 

2 See the Tables of the Generations of Noah and Shem 
(chap. x. and xi). What makes this symbolism the more 
striking, is that these two names are the only ones in the whole 
of the long series whose number is 243. 



186 The Biblical Account of Creation 

number of days in a solar year, 365; therefore the 
record of the generations of Terah ends the eleventh 
chapter. 

27. And these are the generations of Terah: 
Terah hath begotten Abram, Nahor, and Haran; 
and Haran hath begotten Lot. 

28. And Haran dieth in the presence of Terah 
his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the 
Kasdim. 

29. And Abram and Nahor take to them 
wives: the name of Abram's wife is Sarai, and 
the name of Nahor's wife is Milkah, the daughter 
of Haran, the father of Milkah and the father 
of Iskah. 

30. And Sarai is barren, she hath no child. 

31. And Terah taketh Abram his son, and Lot, 
son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter 
in law, his son Abram's wife; and they go out with 
them from Ur of the Kasdim, to go towards the 
land of Canaan; and they come to Charan and 
dwell there. 

32. And the days of Terah are two hundred 
and five years : and Terah dieth in Charan. 

But to show clearly the symbolism of man's mental 
development as represented by the generations of 
Terah, and signified by the two great orbs of light, 
it is necessary to present the names and their numbers 
in a tabular form in connection with the sons of 
Yoktan, from Hatzarmaveth down, as follows: 



The Biblical Account of Creation 187 



Sons op Yoktan. 



Generations of Terah. 



Names 


Number 


Names 


Number 


16 


Hatzarmaveth 


744 




Terah 


608 


17 


Yerah 


218 
(962)1 




Abram 


243 

(851) 


18 


Uzal 


44 




Nahor 


264 


19 


Hadoram 


255 




Haran 


255 


20 


Diklah 


139 

(1400) 




Lot 


45 


21 


Obal 


108 




Sarai 


5 lQ 


22 


Abimael 


84 




Milkah 


95 


23 


Sheba 


303 
(189s) 




Iskah 


95 


24 


Ophir 


287 




Sarai 


, 5io 
(2625^ 


25 


Havilah 


59 
(2182) 




Terah 


608 


26 


Yobab 


20 










2261 


3233 



The numerical symbolism of the generations of 
Terah is as important as it is remarkable. 

I have already stated that the sun is the sign of 
Abram as the typical representative of man in his 
highest state of development, when he became an 
intellectual and reasoning being; and it is with the 
signification of this change of the symbolism from the 
moon to the sun, that the record of the generations of 
Terah begins. The lunar sign of Terah is Hatzar- 
maveth, the number of which is 744; and the lunar 
sign of Abram is Yerah, the number of which is 218; 
and the difference between the sum of these, 962, and 
the number of Terah, 608, is the number of days in a 

1 In the interpretation of the table frequent reference will 
have to be made to the sum of the numbers of two or more 
names, and to show this in the most effective way I have 
inserted the additions in small type between the lines. 



1 88 The Biblical Account of Creation 

lunar year. Again : the difference between the num- 
ber of Terah, 608, and the number of Abram, 243, is 
the number of days in a solar year. 

The dawning light of the new day reveals to man 
more and more of the great world around him, and 
stimulates anew his eagerness for knowledge; and 
this is denoted by the name of Nahor, the eager one, 
which is again given him. The increasing quickness 
of his perceptions in dispelling the darkness which 
still to a great extent overshadowed his mind, is 
signified by his lunar sign Uzal, the name of which is 
descriptive of something rolling off or away (Ges., 
Lex.) y that is, of darkness from off his mind, like 
the darkness from the face of the moon's disc. 

Haran, who is so called from harah, "to conceive in 
mind, to think" (Ges.), is man in the dawn of intel- 
lectual light, while his mind is to some extent still 
under the shadow of animal darkness. In the typical 
symbolism of the moon, this is represented by the 
dark margin on one side of her disc while she is not 
yet wholly full, and which must pass away before she 
can appear in her perfect form and brightness. And, 
accordingly, " Haran dieth in the presence of his 
father Terah" — the tarrying old moon — "in Ur of 
the Kasdim, " that is, in the light of the dark ones, 
by which is meant the lower animals, of whose men- 
tal darkness man still retained some shadowy re- 
mains, and of which the weak light of the moon was 
the sign. In the symbolism which now makes the 
sun the typical sign of man [Abram], the death of 
Haran is connected with the end of the dawn of day. 

But Haran begets a son named Lot, "the veiled 
one," and this is the full moon, the orb of dusky 
night, whose light is likened to that of a veiled sun. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 189 

Thus Lot represents the full extent of man's mental 
enlightenment so far as it is signified by the moon. 
From this time the sun becomes his resplendent sign, 
and the feebler light of the moon, now on the wane, 
begins to lessen and die away. 

In the course of her monthly circuit she passes 
downward at the east side of the earth, into the under 
world, with which woman is symbologically con- 
nected, as distinguished from man, who is symbologi- 
cally connected with the upper world, and who 
preceded her in his mental development. Therefore, 
the mental condition signified by the weak, nocturnal 
light of the moon lingered longer in the mind of wo- 
man than in the mind of man, as is evident in the fol- 
lowing scheme, which shows the symbolism of the 
generations of Terah, in its most striking form, with the 
number of every name and of every lunar sign, as well 
as the phase of the moon, with which it is connected. 

'Scheme oiibe Solar -"Lunar Symbolism of €he Generations of Terah., 



Terah 218 
Abram 243. 



TJzal44 /»v 
Nahor 264 \J^ 




~ Sheleph 430 
f^ Nahor. 264. 



Almodad 85 
JT\— Q Tobah20 
Serug509 



OHarilab 59 
Terah 608 



Ophir 287 



Haran's two daughters, Sarai and Milkah, are the 



19° The Biblical Account of Creation 

typical representatives of woman at this period in the 
history of the human race. Sarai is the wife of 
Abram, and her name, which means "my princess, ,, 
shows that woman has begun to have a place of im- 
portance with her husband as his chosen and constant 
companion. The name of her lunar sign, Ebal, 
denotes a tree stripped of its leaves (Ges., Lex.) ; and 
this is the palm tree Diklah, the symbol of the full 
moon, which loses a strip of her bright disc every 
night, and these are the leaves of light which are 
taken from the tree. 

Milkah is the wife of Nahor, and just as his name 
is descriptive of one who is eagerly acquiring know- 
ledge, her name is descriptive of one who is acquiring 
mental strength, and who is making her power and 
influence felt. And this is signified by the symbolism 
of her lunar sign, Abimael, which, as I have shown, is 
descriptive of the moon's influence in causing the tides 
that affect the diurnal revolution of the earth. 

The name of Iskah, who is mentioned along with 
Milkah as the daughter of Haran, describes her as 
"looking forward" (Ges., Lex.), showing that woman 
has become capable of forethought, and that she has 
reached a turning point in her mental development, 
at which the weak and waning light of the moon no 
longer prevails as a sign of her mental condition. 
And this corresponds exactly with the point reached 
by man in Abram, and with the symbolism of her lunar 
sign, Sheba, which shows that the darker side of her 
nature is now beginning to disappear. But Iskah 
and Sarai are one, — Iskah being her name as the 
daughter of Haran, in which she was the co-equal of 
Milkah, as the number of her name, 95, which is also 
the number of Milkah, shows, 



The Biblical Account of Creation 191 

The same symbolism that connected Sarai with the 
moon, as the first lunar sign on the eastern side of the 
under world, connects her also with it as the first 
lunar sign on the western side of the under world, 
where the upward course in which she is now moving 
indicates a further diminishing of the light which is as 
darkness in her mind. And this is again signified by 
her lunar sign, Ophir, the name of which is descriptive 
of what is dusky or dark, and which corresponds in 
the symbolism with Hatzarmaveth, "the court of 
death," the lunar sign of Terah in the upper world. 
And it is to this the Biblical narrative has reference 
in the statement, " Sarai hath no child," that is, 
children of her own thoughts, — those born of the 
process of reasoning, for her mind was as yet barren. 

The correspondence of the lunar sign of Sarai here 
with the lunar sign of Terah in the upper world 
indicates a close connection between them in the sym- 
bolism; and, accordingly, the name of Sarai is here 
followed by the name of Terah. And not only that, 
but the phase of the moon which is his lunar sign here 
corresponds with the phase which is the first lunar 
sign of Sarai, and, like it, denotes the diminishing of 
the dull, nocturnal light in the mind of man, which is 
now near its final disappearance. 

The same thing is signified by the name of Terah's 
lunar sign, Havilah, "the circuit," which shows 
that the moon has reached that part of her orbit where 
her monthly circuit ends, and this indicates Terah's 
approaching death. 1 The light of the moon must give 

1 It is important to point out that Terah, who is named at 
three different points in the symbolism of the moon's circuit, 
is in all three connected with death. In the first instance, his 
lunar sign is Hatzarmaveth, "the court of death"; in the 



192 The Biblical Account of Creation 

place to the light of the sun, as the resplendent sign 
of the god-like intellect of man, and, therefore, Terah 
and his generations must go out from Ur of the 
Kasdim, that is, "the light of the dark ones," whose 
sign is the moon, and go westward to the land where 
the bright sun rested upon the earth and became the 
sign of the beginning of a new day. 

"And Terah taketh Abram his son, and Lot, the 
son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter 
in law, his son Abram's wife; and they go out with 
them from Ur of the Kasdim, to go towards the land 
of Canaan." 

The number of this typical group is four, which is 
the sign of the west whither they are going; and 
"they" who go with them are Nahor and Milkah, 
whom the symbolism does not permit to be named. 
Again: each one of the four — which consists of three 
men and one woman — is differently described, and in 
a way that indicates the existence of family ties and 
social conditions at this time, early as it was, in the 
history of the human race. But it is chiefly important 
as denoting four stages of mental enlightenment 
characterizing man, with whom woman is now 
included. 

But the land whither they are going is afar off, they 
must rest upon the way; "and they come to Charan 
and dwell there. " The name of the place means " the 

second, "Haran dieth in the presence of his father Terah"; 
and in the third, his own approaching death is signified 
in connection with his lunar sign, Havilah, "the circuit" 
[of the moon], which here reaches its completion. To this 
another instance, in the last words of the record of his genera- 
tions, must be added: "Terah dieth in Charan," which was 
the typical city of the moon. 



The Biblical Account of Creation 193 

high road/' 1 which corresponds to the course of the 
sun : in the symbolism it is the highway of the human 
race from the land of mental darkness to the land of 
intellectual light. 

But Charan was the great seat of the Moon-god, 
whose light must die out before the splendour of the 
sun; hence Abram here parts from his father Terah, 
and, as the symbolism requires, " Terah dieth in 
Charan. " For Terah is man, from the time he begins 
to overcome animal darkness, till the time it has wholly 
disappeared from his mind; therefore, the genera- 
tions of Terah are the generations of man, during 
the time that the moon is the sign of his mental light. 
And the frequent changes of her aspect and of her 
course in the heavens, in which she rises later and 
later every night, strikingly symbolizes the changing 
and uncertain ways of early man, and explains why 
he is called Terah, " he who tarries on the way. " 

With the death of Terah the long night of man's 
mental darkness ends, and the last shadows of his 
obscure animal conceptions disappear from his mind. 
The sun of Abram rises upon the earth, and the glorious 
day begins w T hich is to see man an intellectual and 
reasoning being, with a power of thought that reaches 
to the utmost verge of the visible heavens, and goes 
back to the long- vanished ages before the earth was; 
that investigates the secret mysteries of nature and 
reasons out the existence of unknown things; that 
interprets the phenomena of the heavens and the 
records of past ages in the history of the earth; who 
contemplates the unending succession of creations in 

1 The name is found in the Assyrian tablets, Kharranu. 
The city was so called because it was the stopping place for 
those who travelled on the great highroad westward. 

*3 



194 The Biblical Account of Creation 

illimitable time and space, and who has a spirit within 
him that is to triumph over death, and to live through 
all eternity with the everlasting God, in whose image 
he has been created. 



The mental light which first dawned on the inward 
darkness of man increased but slowly, and the time 
was long before it reached the full splendour of the day 
which made him an intellectual and reasoning being. 
This part of the history of the creation is of supreme 
importance, and every name is a numerical sign that 
calls for interpretation. It was impossible, without 
overloading the text with arithmetical statements, to 
show the symbolism connected with the names and 
their numbers ; but it is so marvellous and so import- 
ant, that I do this to a limited extent in Appendix III. 



APPENDICES 



195 



APPENDIX I 



THE HEBREW ALPHABET 



Order 


Letters and Names 


English 
Equivalents 


Numerical 
Value 


i 


ft Aleph 




1 


2 


2 Beth 


B, Bh 


2 


3 


J Gimel 


G, Gh 


3 


4 


*J Daleth 


D, Dh 


4 


5 


HHe 


H 


5 


6 


) Vau 


V 


6 


7 


) Zayin 


Z 


7 


8 


PI Hheth 


Hh, Ch 


8 


9 


£Teth 


T 


9 


IO 


1 Yodh 


Y 


10 


ii 


*J J Kaph 


K, Kh 


20 


12 


/ Lamedh 


L 


30 


*3 


Q D Mem 


M 


40 


i4 


| J Nun 


N 


5o 


!5 


D Samekh 


S 


60 


16 


^ Ayin 




70 


J 7 


I^SPe 


P, Ph 


80 


18 


V JjTzadhe 


Tz 


90 


i9 


p Qoph 


Q 


100 


20 


^ Resh 


R 


200 


21 


W Shin 


Sh, S 


300 


22 


H Tau 


T, Th 


400 



[97 



The Symbolism of Numbers 1 

From the earliest times of which we have an his- 
torical record numbers appear as important signs in 
the customs and superstitions of all peoples, and in 
their laws and religious rites. This was pre-eminently 
the case among the ancient nations of the East ; and 
in Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria, and also among the 
Greeks, the deepest mysteries of religion and the most 
abstruse doctrines of philosophy, were embodied in 
numbers. Some fragments of those teachings have 
come down to us in the works of ancient writers, 
notably in Plato's account of the Pythagorean system 
and in Plutarch's Isis and Osiris. 

But the Bible is the great embodiment of the 
symbolism of numbers, and is the only book in the 
world in which this symbolism appears in the struct- 
ure of the narratives. Throughout this wonder- 
ful book, from the beginning of Genesis to the end 
of the Apocalypse, numbers are used not only for a 
narrative purpose, but as symbolic signs in connection 
with the text. And yet, after two thousand years of 
study and research, no one has been able to show the 
origin of the symbolism or its significance. The great- 
est scholars have found the subject obscure and 
difficult, even with regard to the simplest numbers, 

1 This Appendix consists of selections from an unpublished 
work of mine on the symbolism of numbers. 

198 



Appendix I 199 

and they have been utterly unable to attach any de- 
finite meaning to those which are compounded of 
units, tens, and hundreds. This is owing to their not 
making a careful and systematic investigation. They 
should have perceived that this symbolism must have 
had a simple beginning, and that its more advanced 
and complex forms proceeded from its first principles 
by a serial and systematic development. 

It was in connection with a general study of the 
symbolism of the Bible, that I was led, over twenty 
years ago, to investigate this subject. By a careful 
examination of many striking passages I discovered 
the significance of some of the simple numbers; and 
it was obvious that the further back I could go in my 
researches, the nearer I would be to the origin of the 
symbolism. To Babylonia, therefore, where the fore- 
fathers of the Hebrew race dwelt, and where the earliest 
forms of the ancient narratives recorded in the first 
part of the book of Genesis were written, I went. 

Babylonia was a land of symbolism, where numbers 
were regarded as signs of magical power, and were 
also used to designate the gods. 1 These were con- 
nected with the heavenly bodies and the phenomena of 
nature, 2 and it remained only to find the point corres- 
ponding to the beginning, from which the regular 
series of numbers proceeded. There could be no 
mistake about that : it was the point of sunset. There 
light and darkness entered into a mystic union, which 
was regarded as representing the beginning of all 
things in the depths of the abyss ; and thus the point 
of sunset was the first symbolic point. 

1 Rawlinson: Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii., p, 31 ; also Lenor- 
mant's Chaldean Magic \ p. 25. 

2 Anc. Mon. % i., p. in. 



200 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Just as the surface of the earth was divided into 
four quarters by the four cardinal points, so its cir- 
cuit, as connected with the sun's diurnal course 
through the under world of darkness and the upper 
world of light, was divided likewise into four symbolic 
parts, by the four points — of sunset (i), midnight (2), 
sunrise (3), and mid-day (4). These are shown in the 
accompanying diagram to the seventh circuit, which 
will make clear to the reader the explanations that 
are to follow. 



37;fla i l9,T5,lV7 J 3 




1,5,9,13,17,21,26,29 



One, the number from which all others proceed, 
denotes, as I have shown, the point of sunset, which, 
in its relation to both light and darkness, was the 
sign of the beginning of all things. For this reason 
it was the symbol of the great god Ilu, the eternal 



Appendix I 201 

One, from whom all things proceeded. 1 The symbol- 
ism of this number is therefore auspicious. 

Two denotes the place of the sun in the under world 
at midnight 2 ', and in its cosmic significance, the dark, 
primordial matter of the abyss, of which the earth 
was an example when it was " without form and void." 
Two, therefore, is the sign of darkness and death, 3 
and also of the waters of the under world. 

Three is the sign of the rising sun at the eastern 
horizon, as he comes up out of the lower world of 
darkness into the light of day 4 ; and thus it is also the 
sign of the creation of light, which is recorded in the 

1 "The Chaldaeans say that the First Cause is One, and they 
describe it as absolutely ineffable." — Anc. Fragment. 

2 Accordingly, the bi-dent is the characteristic symbol of 
Pluto, the god of the lower world. 

3 This is why the mourners in a funeral procession always 
walk in twos. As the symbol of matter (equivalent to mother) 
the duad was feminine; and from its connection with darkness 
and death, it was an unlucky and fatal number. 

"The Pythagoreans call the monad masculine, the duad 
feminine, and the triad again masculine, denning subse- 
quently, according to the same rule, the nature of odd and 
even. " — Philosophumena, p. 126, ed. Miller. 

This explains why, according to Virgil, " Numero deus im- 
pare guadeV ; and our own belief of luck in odd numbers. 

4 It is from this symbolism of the ancient Babylonians, 
which made the number three the sign of the appearing of the 
rising sun, that in many things it has become a symbol of 
legal observance among ourselves; as, for instance, the three 
days of grace, allowed after the exact time of a promissory 
note, for the drawer to appear and pay it. So when a person 
is wanted in a court of justice, the crier calls him by name 
three times to make his appearance. Even in children's 
hiding games, a warning cry is given three times by the 
seeker before he comes. And with like significance the num- 
ber three is used in many other ways. 



202 The Biblical Account of Creation 

third verse of the first chapter of Genesis. Accord- 
ingly three is beyond all others the most auspicious 
of numbers. 

Four is the number of the corners of the earth, and 
hence of the earth itself : it is also the number of the 
symbolic point where the sun is enthroned in the height 
of heaven; consequently, it is the sign of dominion 
and of the kingdom of light. 

Out of these four simple signs and the notions 
connected with them, has proceeded the whole system 
of the symbolism of numbers. This will become 
evident as I show the significance of the other num- 
bers given in the diagram. 

Five is the sum of jour, the number of the earth, in 
union with the light of the setting sun {one) . And this 
is what is signified by the human figures on the 
Chaldaean tablets, presenting the hand, or the hand 
with the fir cone, to the mystic symbol of the tree 
of life, — the thumb (one) being the sign of the great 
god Ilu, the supreme source of light and life; and the 
four fingers (a feminine symbol) of the earth under 
the vitalizing action of the sun; while the fir cone 
itself symbolizes the union of light and darkness. 

It was in observance of the symbolism of the num- 
ber five that Moses caused the book of the law ( = light) 
to be put in the side of the ark, the symbol of the 
dark earth (Deut. xxxi. 26). 

Six is the numerical sign of the under or dark side 
of the earth quickened by the sun, its composite 
symbolism being expressed by 1 + 2 + 3 ; that is, the 
duad in connection with the active signs one and three. 
Thus six denotes the struggle between light and 
darkness — life and death; and hence the sixth com- 
mandment, "Thou shalt not kill" (Exod. xx. 13). 



Appendix I 203 

From this notion of a struggle comes that of action 
and unrest, which is embodied in the commandment, 
"Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work 19 
(Exod. xx. 9). 

Seven is the sum of the united numbers three and 
four, both of which are signs of the upper world of 
light, — three of light emerging out of darkness in the 
east, and four of the earth as ruled by the sun, the 
lord of light. It denotes a state of light and rest. 
Therefore, God rested from his work on the seventh 
day, and blessed and sanctified it. But as we know 
from the Chaldaan Account of Genesis (p. 89), the 
seventh day was observed as a sacred day long before 
the time of Moses, by the Akkado-Babylonians and the 
Assyrians. 1 

Eight is the number denoted by the Hebrew letter J"j 
Cheth, which represents an enclosure; hence it is the 
symbol of the earth wrapped up or enclosed in the 
darkness of night. And it was with reference to this 
symbolism that there were eight persons shut up and 
saved in the ark, when the earth was covered by the 
dark waters of the flood, and the dark heavens above 
and around it. 

Nine ends the series of simple numbers, and is fol- 
lowed by the sign of a cycle or new series, ten. Ac- 
cordingly, it denotes a point in the symbolism where 
the closing event of a period takes place, and from 
which the action passes into a new beginning. Thus 
it is significant of judgment. 

Ten is the sign of the completed cycle, and it is 

1 To the Babylonians, therefore, belongs the first division 
of time into weeks of seven days. The naming of these days 
after the sun, moon, and the five known planets, was the work 
of a later period. 



204 The Biblical Account of Creation 

made up of the numbers denoting the four quarters of 
the earth, 1 + 2 + 3 + 4; and thus it is the sign of the 
earth. And the cycles of ten have a corresponding 
symbolism to the numbers by which they are in- 
dicated, and the same with the cycles of hundreds 
and thousands. 1 

Eleven, as the beginning of the second cycle of ten, 
partakes of the inauspicious symbolism of the duad, 
and is significant of incompleteness. As the interme- 
diate number between the earthly cycle, ten, and the 
celestial cycle, twelve, its occurrence in the Bible de- 
notes a transition from the symbolism of the one 
cycle to that of the other. 

Twelve is exactly commensurate with four, the 
number of the symbolic parts of the sphere, multi- 
plied by three, the sign of the rising sun; and hence 
twelve is the highest point in the third circuit of num- 
bers, and denotes the cycle of the sun. 2 Therefore 
twelve was the complete and perfect number, and of 
the highest and most auspicious significance. 

Thirteen, the next in the series, is a number which 
is universally regarded with a feeling of superstitious 
dread as indicating fatality and death. How it 

1 According to the kabbalists, simple numbers or units 
signify Divine things, tens celestial things, hundreds earthly 
things, and thousands future things. 

2 This is the first scientific determination of the origin of 
the solar cycle, and it puts beyond question that the Baby- 
lonian astronomers were the first to divide the sun's annual 
course around the heavens into the twelve signs of the Zodiac. 
And not only that, but it accounts for the Babylonian 
nycthemeris consisting of twelve hours. It is not a little re- 
markable that this is the very point in the heavens which 
astronomers take to determine most accurately the exact 
position of the sun. 



Appendix I 205 

came to be so regarded can be clearly shown. It is 
the beginning of the second cycle of twelve, and con- 
sequently it partakes of the fatal symbolism of the 
duad. But twelve is the celestial cycle, and the 
first of the heavenly bodies whose periodical move- 
ments were known was the moon, which makes nearly 
twelve and a half lunations, or thirteen moons in a 
year; consequently, the full moon of the last lunation, 
the thirteenth, must die within the next year. 

Fourteen is in the under world ; and jour, the sign of 
dominion, connected with ten, the cycle of the earth, 
shows that it is a sign of continuation amid surround- 
ing darkness and evil, till the end of the time to which 
it has reference. And this explains wh^ fourteen is 
the number of trees specified in the following passage 
in the Book of Enoch (chap, iii.) : — 

" I observed and saw how (in winter) all the trees 
seem as though they had withered and shed all their 
leaves, except fourteen trees, which do not lose their 
foliage but retain the old foliage, from two to three 
years till the new comes." 

Note here the reference to the passage of the sun 
through the under world, corresponding to the dark 
period of winter, also indicated by the number of 
years, "two to three," which brings the symbolism 
to the rising of the sun, significant of spring, when the 
new foliage appears. 

And so the time during which the typical people 
waited for the coming of the Sun of righteousness is 
given in three periods of "fourteen generations' ' each 
(Matt. i. 17). 

Fifteen is in the east, and it denotes the plenitude 
of light and productiveness, as indicated by the 
cyclical number ten, and five, the sign of the conceptive 



206 The Biblical Account of Creation 

earth. And therefore it was that the great Babylonian 
goddess of nature, the " Queen of Fecundity, " was 
named "Fifteen" {Ri)> x and this number was her 
symbol. 

And so on: the symbolism of every number is to 
be explained by the circuit in which it occurs, and by 
its connection with light and darkness in the four 
sections of the sphere. In the course of time more 
abstract notions and moral and spiritual ideas were 
connected with these, but it is not necessary to speak 
of them here. 

I have already stated that the Bible is the great 
embodiment of the symbolism of numbers; but, before 
I begin to show the significance of this symbolism 
in connection with it, I would direct attention to the 
peculiar way in which the text of the sacred Hebrew 
Scriptures is written, and which distinguishes them 
from all other books. There are parts which are 
written and must end with open spaces, and others 
with closed spaces, and parts in which the words 
are widely separated from each other; in certain words 
there are letters written larger or smaller than the 
others, and sometimes one is placed above the line; 
there are letters written in medial form at the end 
of words, and others in terminal form in the middle 
of words ; there are words which are written but not 
read, and words which are read but not written (in 
the text) ; everywhere there are two, three, four, and 
even five words joined by a maqqeph (— ) ; and, again, 
instances where the same words are not so joined to- 
gether; and there are places where words in close 
grammatical relation are separated by a small per- 

1 Rawlinson's Herodotus , vol. i., p. 624. 



Appendix I 207 

pendicular line (I, the p' siq). And besides all this 
and much more that is not mentioned, the text is 
written with an elaborate system of accents, such as 
is found in no other book, even in the Hebrew lan- 
guage. In short, the whole text of the sacred Hebrew 
Scriptures is written in symbological form. 

And this is true of the chapters and verses into 
which the text of the different books is divided: they 
are symbological divisions, and their character cor- 
responds with the significance of the numbers by 
which they are denoted. 

And now, to show the purpose for which the He- 
brew Scriptures have been thus written : It must be 
admitted that if God has made a written revelation of 
himself through man, that revelation must be char- 
acterized by unmistakable signs of its Divine origin. 
Just as in the natural world, "order is heaven's 
first law, " so, in the written record of the creation 
of that world, the same rules of order must be ob- 
served. But numbers are the signs of order, and 
therefore they denote not only the successive stages 
in the work of creation and the phenomena of nature, 
but also the character of events, and the development 
of the spiritual world in man, for which purpose the 
inspired narratives of the Bible have been written. 

Again : the natural world is the type of the spiritual 
world 1 ; and the numbers which denote the orderly 
sequence of events in the former, must also denote a 
corresponding phase or condition of things in the 
latter. Their deep significance as signs of God's 
creative operations was stated long ago by an Apoc- 
ryphal writer: "Thou hast ordered all things in 

* i Cor. xv. 46. 



208 The Biblical Account of Creation 

measure and number and weight" (Wisdom xi. 20). 
And in the Book of Daniel (viii. 13, margin) God is 
said to be the " Wonderful Numberer, " or the " Num- 
berer of Secrets.' ' 

In proceeding to show the significance of numbers 
in the symbolism of the Bible, it is well to state that 
the Bible is a development out of the darkness of the 
primeval world. It is the spiritual tree of life, and, 
like its Babylonian prototype, it has its roots in the 
dark earth, and its head in the height of heaven. 
Therefore, it is not of the tree as it was during the 
period of its growth, but as we now have it since its 
full development was completed; and in the case of 
the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament, this 
fiducial form is embodied in the Massoretic text. 
Similar remarks will apply to the canon of the New 
Testament. Accordingly, I shall begin with a brief 
statement of the order and symbological character 
of the books of the Hebrew Scriptures as indicated 
by their numbers, and afterwards of their chapters 
and verses. 

The first of these books — so designated by its 
Hebrew name, Bereshith, "In the Beginning" — 
is Genesis, which contains the account of the creation 
of the world and of man, by Elohim, corresponding 
to the Babylonian god II or El, from whom all things 
proceeded, and whose symbolic number was one. 
But following the course of the sun going down into 
the depths of night, the auspicious character of this 
number is darkened by the fall of man, and the subse- 
quent events recorded in the book, till Abram, like 
the setting sun, and after him, Jacob and his sons, the 
fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel, go down into the 



Appendix I 209 

land of Egypt, with the name of which the Book of 
Genesis ends. 

This name, Mitzraim in the Hebrew, is a dual term, 
and, in accordance with the symbolism of the duad, 
was the land of darkness, — the representative of the 
dark under world; consequently, the book of Exodus, 
which describes the sojourning of the typical people 
in the land of darkness, is the second book of the law. 
But from this land and its symbolic bondage, they 
were to be delivered; and, when the time came, they 
set out after midnight * — the turning point of the sun's 
course — upon their way. They are forbidden to go 
northward by the way of Baal-Zephon, 2 because it 
would be turning aside from the course of the symbol- 
ism; and they are commanded to go eastward through 
the waters of the Red Sea, like the rising sun through 
the red light of the morning. And they escape 
from the pursuit of the Egyptians, the children of the 
land of darkness, who, rushing after them, perish in 
the waters. 

The escape of the Israelites from Egypt, correspond- 
ing to the sun's course in the under world from 
midnight till morning, was also significant of their 
being set free from the bondage of sin and spiritual 
death, both indicating their approach to the upper 
world of light and life. Hence the latter part of the 
Book of Exodus contains an account of the delivery 
of the law and the setting up of the ritual system, by 

1 Exod. xii. 29-36. 

2 Exod. xiv. 2-2 2 . Note here that the verse which describes 
the symbolism at its lowest point — the children of Israel 
walking between the waters at the bottom of the sea — is, 
in accordance with the symbolism of the duad, the twenty- 
second. See the diagram. 



210 The Biblical Account of Creation 

which the typical people were to be eventually brought 
to the full light of the Messianic day; and the book 
(Leviticus) specially devoted to the recording of these 
rites and ritual laws is the third book, the number 
which denotes the rising of the sun. 1 

Again: this book is designated in Hebrew by its 
first word, *^p?l, Vayyiqra, a form of the verb 
qara, " to cry or call, " here having reference to the cry 
or call of morning. And it is to signify the faintness 
of the sound — so appropriately described in the 
familiar expression, "peep of day" — that the word 
Vayyiqra is written with a diminutive Aleph. And 
this, again, in accordance with the numerical value 
of the letter, one, and of the subordinate character of 
the typical system, is significant of a small beginning. 

The symbolism of the number three shows that the 
sun has risen upon the earth, and the number by 
which the earth is denoted is jour. Accordingly, 
the fourth book of the law is the book Bemidbar, " In 
the Wilderness, " which is also the fourth word of the 
book, and has reference to the wilderness of the earthly 
world. Hence this book consists of a record of the 
wanderings in the wilderness, which continued for the 
typical number of forty years. 

The fifth and last book of the law is Deuteronomy, 
which, as its number shows, is connected with the 
symbolism of the west. Here, where the sun looks 
back on the world he has traversed, and, on the other 
side, to the bright land of rest, on whose border he is, 
we have the symbolism of the retrospect of the in- 
Spired law-giver, and of his view of the promised land. 

i And, in connection with this, Levi, from whom the priestly 
tribe descended, was the third son of Jacob. 



Appendix I 211 

This book, therefore, is the counterpart of Leviti- 
cus, just as the west is the counterpart of the east; 
and, accordingly,the number denoted by the letters of 

its name, D^'"Q r in H^Ni Elleh Haddebarim, "These 

• t : - 
the Words," is exactly equal to the number of 

Vayyiqra (Leviticus), 327, — the four by which the 

former apparently exceeds the latter being the sign 

of the land of rest, at the door of which they now were. 

The next part of the subject in order is the number 
of chapters in each book. For the same reason that 
five is the sign of the law, Genesis, the first book of the 
law, ends with the fiftieth chapter. But fifty is a sign 
of the dark under world, denoting the point from which 
the sun looks forward to reach again the upper world 
of light and life ; and, accordingly, the fiftieth chapter 
of this book tells how the children of Israel looked 
forward to the day when they should go up out of 
Egypt to the bright land they had left. 

In the second book of the law, Exodus, the number 
of chapters is forty, the sign of a period of darkness 
on the earth; and this corresponds with the character 
of the book, which records the history of the typical 
people in Egypt, the land of darkness and bondage. 

Leviticus, in accordance with its number, three, 
and the symbolism of the ritual worship, which was 
to bring the typical people to the light of day, consists 
of twenty-seven chapters, a number which denotes the 
point of sunrise, when the ritual of the law, which 
belongs to night and darkness, comes to an end. 

The fourth book, Numbers, has thirty-six chapters, — 
thirty being a sign of light, but, from its place in the 
under world, of light in surrounding darkness; and 



212 The Biblical Account of Creation 

tnis was symbolized by the pillar of fire which led 
the children of Israel through the wilderness, while 
six is a sign of their wanderings and unrest. 

In the fourteenth chapter of this book an event is 
recorded which is closely connected in the symbolism 
with their turning aside from Baal-Zephon (Baal of 
the North), in their flight out of Egypt. While they 
were in the wilderness of Paran, on the south side of 
the land of Canaan, the people, alarmed by the evil 
report of the spies whom Moses had sent out, refused 
to undertake the conquest of the land ; and then, when 
they were censured for their rebellious conduct, and 
their punishment pronounced, they perversely at- 
tacked the people of the land, and were defeated and 
driven back. They could not enter the land of Canaan 
from the south, for that was forbidden by the sym- 
bolism. Like the sun in his course through the red 
sky before rising, they must first compass the red 
land of Edom, 1 and enter Canaan from the east. 
And it was only opposite Jericho, "the city of palm 
trees " — the sacred trees of the sun, — that the children 
of Israel could cross the river Jordan and take posses- 
sion of the land 2 (Joshua iii. 16). 

Thirty-four > the number of chapters in the Book of 

1 Numb. xxi. 4; Judges xi. 18. 

2 It is important to point out the symbolism connected 
with the movement of the Israelites northward. In the first 
instance, that of Baal-Tzephon, they were commanded to 
turn back, and they did so and escaped from the Egyptians. 
In the second instance, the attempt at Hormah, in accordance 
with the fatal character of the duad, they suffered disaster 
and death. A third movement northward there could not be ; 
for three is an auspicious number and belongs to the east t and 
when they approached the land of Canaan from that side, it 
was the third attempt, and they were successful. 



Appendix I 213 

Deuteronomy, follows closely and appropriately upon 
the symbolism of the Book of Numbers; for four is the 
sign of the land they were seeking. Hence the Book of 
Deuteronomy, the completion of the law, ends with 
the death of Moses, and the encampment of the Israel- 
ites on the borders of the land of light and rest. 

The symbological character of the chapters in these 
five books and its correspondence with the symbolism 
of their numbers in the diagram must now be pointed 
out. This begins, of course, with the first chapter 
of the Book of Genesis, which describes the creation 
of the world and of man. The number of this chapter, 
one, is the symbol of the Babylonian god El, the He- 
brew Elohim, who created the heavens and the earth. 
Hence it is of an auspicious character throughout, 
as shown by the statement, "And Elohim saw every- 
thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very 
good" (v. 31). This is why the only Divine name 
used is Elohim, the God of sinless nature, who gives 
"every herb and every tree" for food; and there is no 
mention of "the tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil." 

This could be spoken of only in the second chapter, 
and by Yahveh-Elohim, a twofold name, denoting 
God both as the God of law and the God of nature. 
Hence there is a second account of the creation; and, 
in accordance with the fatal character of the duad, a 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, whose fruit is 
death. 

In the subtlety of the serpent with which the third 
chapter begins, there is the indication of a mental im- 
pulse towards light ; and in the eating of the fruit of 
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we see 



214 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the first clear signs of a sense of moral right and wrong, 
and of that spiritual light which was to illumine man's 
mind, like the dark earth enlightened by the rays of 
the rising sun. Hence the chapter which exhibits 
to us this beautiful symbolism is the third chapter, 
and it could be denoted by no other number. 

The symbolism of the number four is exemplified 
in the fourth chapter, by the fruit of the ground, the 
ruling of sin (v. 7), the punishment of Cain, the land of 
Nod, and the building of the first city. 

The character of the fifth chapter is expressly 
stated in its title, "The book of the generations of 
Adam''; and a reference to the diagram will show 
that the number five is the sign of the vitalizing sun 
acting on the conceptive earth. Hence five is an im- 
portant sign in the Babylonian tree of life, and the 
appropriate number of the chapter which records 
" the generations of Adam. " 

In the explanation of the diagram it was shown 
that the number six is the sign of unrest, darkness, 
and confusion; and, accordingly, in the second verse 
of the sixth chapter there occurs a most striking ex- 
ample of this, in the evil intercourse of the sons of the 
Elohim and the daughters of man; and another in 
the giants, the representatives of lawlessness and 
disorder. Hence the emphatic statement of the sacred 
writer, and that, too, in the sixth verse : — 

" The earth also was corrupt before Elohim, and the 
earth was filled with violence.'" 

Therefore Elohim declared he would destroy the 
earth by a flood, and save only Noah and his family : 
and, in keeping with the numerical symbolism of this 
chapter, Noah was six hundred years old when the 
flood of waters came upon the earth, a statement 



Appendix I 215 

which is made in the sixth verse of the seventh 
chapter. 

The appropriateness of the number seven to the 
chapter it denotes, and the auspicious character of 
that number, are exemplified in the clean animals 
being taken by sevens into the ark, and the unclean 
by twos; and by the seven days of grace before the 
great rains descended. Also in the safety which 
Noah and his family found in the ark, their entering 
into which is appropriately recorded in the seventh 
verse. 

The symbolism of the number eight is that of an 
enclosure or covering, thus of night, which covers the 
earth with darkness ; and, accordingly, the first verse 
of the eighth chapter speaks of the dark waters of the 
flood, when they covered the earth to the greatest 
depth ; as is evident from its being the point at which 
they began to lessen. In the second verse, " the foun- 
tains of the deep" is a striking example of the sym- 
bolism of the duad; and in the third verse, the 
return of the waters from off the earth — like the 
formation of dry land on the third day of the creation 
— corresponds to the disappearance of darkness at the 
rising of the sun, of which the number three is the sign. 
The fourth verse also, in which the ark rests upon the 
mountains of Ararat, is in striking accordance with 
the symbolism of the sun enthroned in the height of 
heaven, which is denoted by the number four in the 
diagram. 

Nine, as the last of the simple numbers, denotes the 
end of a series of events, and a point of judgment from 
which a new order of things is to proceed. Hence 
nine is the number of the chapter in which the Divine 
command is given to Noah, that the shedder of man's 



216 The Biblical Account of Creation 

blood shall be put to death; and hence also the ap- 
pearance of the rainbow as the sign that God would 
keep his covenant with man. 

Ten is the sign of the cycle of the earth; and, ac- 
cordingly, the tenth chapter is the record of "the 
generations of the sons of Noah, — Shem, Ham, and 
Yapheth, " by whom the whole earth was peopled. 

This is sufficient to establish the connection between 
the symbological character of the different chapters 
and the numbers by which they are denoted. But 
a few more examples may be added. 

It is the twelfth chapter which records the Divine 
call to Abram, and this coincides with the sym- 
bolism of the number twelve, which denotes the 
cycle of the sun, the source of heavenly light. 

The number of the forty-ninth chapter is connected 
with the west and sunset; and this symbolism is seen 
in the dying blessing of Jacob. And in the fiftieth 
and last chapter, Joseph's charge to his brethren 
and his own death complete the symbolism of the 
cycle, in accordance with the significance of the num- 
ber fifty as a sign connected with the under world. 
And here, as we shall see in the Book of Exodus, the 
next cycle of the symbolism begins. 

The second chapter of this book, which is the sec- 
ond book of the law, furnishes a striking example 
of the symbolism of the duad. It relates to Egypt, 
and I have already shown that the symbological char- 
acter of that land is in accordance with the dual 
form of its name, Mitzraim; and the duad, as we have 
seen, is the numerical symbol of the female sex and 
water, as well as of darkness and death. All these 
elements of the symbolism characterize this chapter. 
It begins with the birth of a son by a woman of the 



Appendix I 217 

tribe of Levi, an event which is recorded in the second 
verse, his being exposed in an ark of bulrushes on the 
brink of the river, where he was watched by the 
woman's daughter, and found by the daughter of 
Pharaoh — three women, an auspicious number, — and 
the child was saved. 

But true to the dark and fatal symbolism of the 
duad, the second part of the chapter records the killing 
of an Egyptian by this child when grown to manhood ; 
and another part records a second death, which is that 
of the king of Egypt. No other number but two 
could be the numerical sign of such a chapter as this. 

The narrative of the third chapter presents a most 
striking contrast. Instead of the dark waters of the 
river of Egypt, it tells of the burning bush on Mount 
Horeb, of God's revealing himself to Moses, and 
promising to deliver his chosen people from the bond- 
age of Egypt, and bring them to worship him on 
that mountain. This transition from the low land 
and the dark waters of Egypt, and the death of the 
Egyptian and the Egyptian king, to mount Horeb 
and the burning bush, the symbol of the God of light 
and life, follows the typical course of the rising sun 
from the darkness of the under world to the upper 
world of light, of which the number three is the sign. 
And it is as part of this symbolism, that the Israelites 
were to ask that they might make a three days' 
journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to their God 
(v. 18). 

In the Book of Leviticus, consisting, as it does, of 
ritual laws and repetitions of parts of those laws, 
the symbological character of the chapters is not so 
obvious, but it is there all the same. Take for instance 
the tenth chapter. Ten is a secular sign relating to 



218 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the earthly world; and, accordingly, it is the tenth 
chapter which relates how — 

" Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of 
them his censer, and put fire therein, and laid incense 
thereon, and offered strange fire before Yahveh, M 
that is, fire which was used for common and secular 
purposes, and not the heaven-sent fire of the altar. 
For this, in the words of the sacred writer, " They died 
before Yah veil." And the rest of the chapter for- 
bids everything that would lead to confusion between 
what is secular and what is sacred. 

The eleventh chapter, as its place between the 
secular tenth and the sacred twelfth indicates, is of a 
mixed character. Accordingly, it speaks first of beasts 
clean and unclean, and of those belonging in part to 
both classes; then, as the symbolism requires, in the 
second place, of the living creatures of the waters; and in 
the third, of fowls, which, in accordance with the sym- 
bolism of the number three, fly upwards in the air ; and 
fourth, of creeping things which creep upon the earth. 

Passing to the Book of Numbers, we find the 
same correspondence between the symbological 
character of the chapters and the numbers by which 
they are denoted. The first chapter, for example, 
is a statement of the mtmber of men able to bear 
arms, in each of the twelve tribes of Israel. And 
this is appropriate to their militant character, and 
to the beginning of the book, whose serial number, 
four, is the sign of the earth and of dominion over it. 

The second chapter, which describes their encamp- 
ment, is appropriately denoted by the passive sign 
of the duad. 1 

1 And the same symbolism makes the letter Beth, the sign 
of a house, the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet. 



Appendix I 219 

The third chapter, by a requirement of the sym- 
bolism, passes from this to a subject, which, to those 
who see only the face of things, seems widely dif- 
ferent, — the generations of the sons of Levi, the 
tribe which, as representing the firstborn of all 
Israel, was consecrated to the service of God. This 
is in accordance with the meaning of its name, 
"joined"; for in Levi, all Israel was joined to God. 
And here, again, the symbolism of the chapter is 
indicated; for Levi was the third son of Jacob. In 
the phenomena of nature the "joining" is typified 
by the sun on the eastern horizon, where he joins 
together the two worlds of light and darkness, a posi- 
tion which in the diagram is denoted by the number 
three. 

The twenty-second chapter, which relates how 
Balak, the king of Moab, sent for the prophet Balaam 
to come and curse Israel for him, might seem to 
have no very obvious connection with the number by 
which it is denoted. But, as I will show, the duad 
is its ruling sign, and the symbolism is strikingly 
appropriate. This is seen in the purpose for which 
the prophet was wanted, — to curse Israel; in Balak's 
sending two different parties of messengers to induce 
him to come; in the two nights, one for each party, 
they lodged with the prophet; in the sex of the 
prophet's ass, which was a female (athon), and, conse- 
quently, her symbol was the duad; in the twenty- 
second verse being the turning point of the symbolism, 
where the angel stands with his drawn sword in the 
way to destroy him; in the two walls, one on this side 
and one on that; in the two servants who were with 
the prophet; and, again, in the second narrow place, 
" where was no way to turn to the right hand or to the 



220 The Biblical Account of Creation 

left, " and where Balaam fell on his face before the 
drawn sword of the angel, equivalent to death. Thus 
the duad is throughout the characterizing symbol of 
the twenty-second chapter. 

In the explanation of the diagram it was shown that 
five is the numerical sign of the law; and, accordingly, 
the fifth chapter of the fifth book — the Book of Deu- 
teronomy — consists of a repetition of the law, in an 
address of Moses to all the tribes of Israel. 

The thirteenth chapter of this book, which com- 
mands the death of the prophet or person who would 
persuade Israel, the children of light, to turn aside 
to the worship of strange gods, the lifeless imper- 
sonations of heathen darkness, is in strict accordance 
with the symbolism of the number by which the 
chapter is denoted. 

Just as the seventh chapter assures the children 
of Israel that they shall possess the land as the 
covenant people of God, so the twenty-seventh chapter 
directs how that covenant should be formally ac- 
cepted and sworn to by them. 

If they observe its laws and statutes, all blessings 
are in store for them; but if they fall away from it, 
curse after curse should come upon them; they should 
perish from pestilence, and blasting, and mildew; the 
heavens over them should be brass, and the earth 
beneath them iron; they should be smitten with 
madness and blindness; and they should grope at 
noonday as the blind grope in darkness. All this 
belongs to the symbolism of night, of which the num- 
ber eight 1 is the sign; and hence the chapter in which 
it is recorded is the twenty-eighth. 

* For the dark symbolism connected with this number, 
see the eighty -eighth Psalm. 



Appendix I 221 

In striking contrast with this is the thirty-third 
chapter, which must, from its number, be auspicious, 
and have reference to the happiness of the people 
who were about to enter the land of light; and, ac- 
cordingly, it is wholly taken up with the blessing 
of Moses : — 

" Israel shall dwell in safety, 

The fountain of Jacob alone, 

In a land of corn and wine ; 

Yea, his heavens drop down dew. 

Happy art thou, O Israel: 

Who is like unto thee, a people saved by Yahveh!" 



The same symbolism that determined the number 
and order of the books of the law, determined also 
the order of the other books of the Bible. In the 
Jewish canon, the law is followed by a series of 
four books, called the "older prophets, " namely, 
Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. 1 Joshua, the 
great captain who led Israel across the Jordan, and 
conquered the promised land, is symbolically con- 
nected with the sun; and this is indicated by the 
name of the inheritance given to him, which was 
also his burial-place, Timnath-Heres, the "Por- 
tion of the Sun" (Judges ii. 9). 

Thus it was in accordance with the symbolism of 
his character, that " Israel served the Lord all the 
days of Joshua." The Book of Joshua, therefore, 
must necessarily be the first in this series of books, 

» Samuel and Kings are double books, and often reckoned 
as two each. This shows another phase of the symbolism, 
and occasions no difficulty whatever. The same with the 
double book of Chronicles. 



222 The Biblical Account of Creation 

just as Genesis is the first book of the law. But when 
the sun of Israel had gone to his rest, the night came, 
and with it the dark record of the Book of Judges. 
This book with its lapses into idolatry, its servitudes, 
its dark and ruthless deeds, its scenes of disorder and 
lawlessness, when "every man did that which was 
right in his own eyes," — embodying, as it does 
throughout, the symbolism of the duad, could be no 
other than the second book of the series, corresponding 
in number and place to the Book of Exodus. 

The Book of Samuel, the prophet and judge of Israel, 
with its spiritual light, which is connected with the 
light of the morning sun, is thereby shown to be 
appropriately the third book, just as Leviticus was 
the third book of the law, co-incident with which is 
Samuel's being of the seed of Levi, the third son of 
Jacob. The Book of Kings is the fourth and last of 
the series, and this it must be; for four is the numerical 
sign of rule and dominion. 

The third series of books is that of the " later pro- 
phets/ ' -fifteen in number, at the head of which stand 
the three great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and 
Ezekiel. 

Isaiah, in his grandeur and magnificence, has always 
been recognized as the greatest of all the prophets; and 
his resplendent imagery and glowing descriptions at 
once connect him with the gorgeous brightness of the 
west. His book is, therefore, the first in the whole 
series, in this corresponding to the Book of Genesis in 
the law. 

Jeremiah has the second place; and in the dark col- 
ouring of his prophecies, and his lamentations over 
the wickedness of his people and their destruction, 
the symbolism of the duad is everywhere seen. His 



Appendix I 223 

book presents a striking contrast to the glorious pro- 
phecies of Isaiah, and he follows him just as the gloom 
and darkness of the under world, to which he symbo- 
logically belongs, follow the resplendent brightness of 
the glorious west. And it is to his connection with 
the under world and midnight, which is the turning 
point of the symbolism, from darkness to the light 
of the coming day, that he foretold the end of the 
captivity of his people, and their return to Jerusalem. 
This is to be compared to the captivity of the Israel- 
ites in Egypt; and, in like manner, the prophecies of 
Jeremiah correspond in their symbological place with 
Exodus, the second book of the law. 

Just as strikingly does the prophet Ezekiel, the 
third in order, belong to the clear light of the morning. 
This is seen in the third chapter of his book, where 
his face is made like adamant against those who 
opposed him; in his being lifted up and borne away by 
the spirit, 1 and in his prophesying the glorious return 
of Israel, as an enlightened and spiritual people. In 
addition to all this, he is a priest, as stated in the 
third verse of the first chapter of his book, and there- 
fore of the tribe of Levi. Thus at every point it 
corresponds symbologically with Leviticus, the third 
book of the law. 

Daniel was not placed among the prophets in the 
Hebrew Scriptures; but the symbolism which ex- 
cluded him from this part of the Jewish canon, re- 
quired the presence of his book in this part of the 
Christian canon; and, consequently, it is there, 
and is the fourth book of the great prophets. And it 
presents a most striking embodiment of the sym- 

1 See chapter iii. 14; viii. 3; xi. 1, 



224 The Biblical Account of Creation 

bolism of the number four; for the prophecies of 
Daniel describe the rise and fall of the four great 
kingdoms of the earth. 

Of the rest of the fifteen prophets I need only re- 
mark the Book of Jonah is the eighth, and that its 
place is in accordance with the character of the 
narrative, which describes the tempest-tossed ship, 
and the prophet's being swallowed by the great fish 
and taken down into the depths of the dark waters, — 
corresponding in its symbolism with the story of the 
flood, where eight persons were shut up and saved 
in the ark, the command for them to enter it being 
given in the eighteenth verse of the sixth chapter, 
and their coming out being recorded in the eighteenth 
verse of the eighth chapter. And this same symbolism 
recurs in the number of verses in the book of Jonah, 
which is forty-eight. 

The Book of Zechariah is the fourteenth, and, in 
accordance with the character of his prophecies, 
consists of fourteen chapters. The Book of Malachi, 
the last of the series, ends with foretelling the coming 
of the Sun of Righteousness; and in accordance with 
this symbolism, the number of chapters is three, and 
of verses fifty-five, both of which belong to the east, 
and are signs of the rising sun. 

The fourth series of books is the Kethubim or 
Hagiographa, twelve in number: — 



Psalms 


Ecclesiastes 


Proverbs 


Esther 


Job 


Daniel 


Song of Solomon 


Ezra 


Ruth 


Nehemiah 


Lamentations 


Chronicles 



Appendix I 225 

These four series correspond to the symbolism of 
the four sections of the diagram. 

First. The five books of the law, which necessarily 
begin with the creation of the natural world, and 
end with the beginning of the spiritual world under 
a typical form, in Israel, — the final point of the series 
being the death of Moses (i.e, the law) on the border 
of the land where the spiritual worship of God was 
eventually to be established. 

Second. The " older prophets," consisting of four 
books, two of which (Samuel and Kings) being double, 
the series is also reckoned as six, a number which is 
the sign of the under world, and of a struggle between 
light and darkness; and thus the second series is con- 
nected with the symbolism of the duad. 

Third. This series consists of the " later prophets, " 
fifteen in number, whose visions of spiritual light and 
life foreshow the glories of the coming day. Hence 
three, the sign of the rising sun, is the appropri- 
ate number of this series; and fifteen, also a sunrise 
sign, is the corresponding symbolic number of the 
prophets. 

Fourth. The fourth series of books, twelve in 
number, is known as the Kethubim, or sacred writings; 
and, in their diversity, they represent the many 
elements of spiritual enlightenment and knowledge, 
which contribute to the establishing of God's kingdom 
upon the earth. 

The Book of Chronicles, the last of the Kethubim, 
begins with the name of Adam, the father of the hu- 
man race, and ends with the proclamation of Cyrus, 
king of Persia, the king of " all the kingdoms of the 
earth," for building the temple of God. The name 
of Cyrus (Pers. Koresh), which signifies the "Sun," 



226 The Biblical Account of Creation 

denotes a connection in the symbolism with the 
"Sun of Righteousness''; and the temple he com- 
mands to be built is connected in like manner with 
the great spiritual temple of the whole earth, in which 
all nations and peoples are to worship. 

Thus the Book of Chronicles clearly indicates the 
approaching end of the typical period and the passing 
away of the Mosaic ritual, when all the peoples of the 
earth shall be blessed in Abraham, and Jew and 
Gentile shall be one. And this is why the Book of 
Chronicles begins with the name of Adam, the com- 
mon father of the whole human race, of whose moral 
and spiritual condition the children of Israel were 
the type. 

And when they wandered in the wilderness for 
forty years before they reached the land of light and 
rest, it was typical of man's wandering through the 
dark wilderness of the world; and for the same reason 
that the Book of Numbers, which records the wander- 
ings of the typical people, consists of thirty-six 
chapters, the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testa- 
ment, which record the dark wanderings of the human 
race from the days of Adam till the coming of the 
Sun of Righteousness, consists of thirty-six books. 1 

1 And for a corresponding reason, thirty-six is also the num- 
ber of chapters in the second book of Chronicles, which begins 
with the building of Solomon's temple, and brings the sym- 
bolism to the building of the later temple, which was to be 
glorified by the presence of the Sun of Righteousness. 
And in accordance with this same symbolism, the whole 
number of chapters in the double book of Chronicles is sixty- 
five, the number of the name of Adonai, " the Lord, " which the 
Jews read instead of Yahveh, — thereby unconsciously in- 
dicating the Divine and twofold nature of the Lord Jesus, the 
Redeemer of the whole human race. 



Appendix I 227 

It is not necessary for the purpose of this brief 
explanation of the subject to give further examples 
of the connection between the divisions of the sacred 
Hebrew text, and the numbers by which they are 
denoted ; but the character of every chapter and verse 
will be found indicated more or less strikingly by the 
symbolism of its number. The same applies to the 
books of the New Testament, and a few words will 
suffice to establish some important facts, which have 
not hitherto been perceived. 

The New Testament begins with a series of five 
books, which, like the books of the law, are severally 
characterized by the symbolism of the first five 
numbers in the diagram. The first of these books is 
the gospel of Matthew, which shows its connection 
with the Old Testament by the words with which it 
begins: "The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, 

Here I must bring to light the meaning of a most important 
event in the history of the temple of Cyrus, the significance of 
which has never been perceived owing to the symbolism being 
unknown. As the second temple, it was under the dark 
shadow of the duad. It was not only wanting in the magnif- 
icence of the first temple, but the cherubim and the ark had 
disappeared for ever. Herod the Great, who delighted in 
architecture, desired to replace it with a more beautiful 
structure; but the priests and Pharisees distrusted him, fear- 
ing he might destroy it altogether, and would not permit 
him to touch it. At last he offered to bring the materials to 
the ground, and replace the stones one by one in the temple 
walls as they were taken out. And in this way the whole 
temple was rebuilt with beautiful white marble. Thus 
the new structure grew out of the old one, — just as the bright 
light of morning grows out of the dark dawn — and formed, as 
it were, a third temple, which co-incides with the rising of the 
Sun of Righteousness, whose light is to gladden all the earth. 



228 The Biblical Account of Creation 

the son of David, the son of Abraham. " And this 
connection is further indicated by Matthew's former 
name of Levi, which means " he who joins'" (see 
Gen. xxix. 34), and by his being the son of Alpheus 
(Mark ii. 14), a name which has reference to the first 
letter, Aleph, of the Hebrew alphabet, and signifies 
that he is a son of the beginning, that is, of the typical 
system, the law. Therefore, the gospel of Matthew is 
the first of the four gospels, and, in accordance with 
this, it belongs to the west, the symbolic point of the 
Old Testament and the law. And the command 
with which it ends, "Go ye, and baptize all nations," 
is a necessary part of its symbolism, having reference 
to the sun going down into the dark waters of the 
west, and it leads into the symbolism of the gospel 
of Mark. 

Thus the gospel of Mark is necessarily the second 
gospel; and for this reason it does not speak of the 
birth of Jesus, — the symbolism of the duad forbade 
it. But it begins with the appearing of John the 
Baptist, and his preaching repentance to the people 
and baptizing them, which is in close connection with 
the last words of the gospel of Matthew. 

The duad is the well-known sign of water with 
which the rite of baptism is administered; and the 
rite itself had its origin in the symbolism of the sun 
going down into the waters of the dark under world, 
from which he rises again refreshed and purified, to 
begin anew his heavenward course. And thus the 
rite became a sign of man's restoration to his original 
purity and innocence. Therefore, it was that the 
Sun of Righteousness, in order to present a typical 
example of purity, insisted on its observance in his own 
person (Matt. iii. 13-15). 



Appendix I 229 

The name of Luke, Lucas , "the light-giving/' 
shows that his gospel must be the third; and it is a 
part of this symbolism that he was a physician , l 
significant of his connection with the Sun of Right- 
eousness, who rose with healing in his wings. There- 
fore, the gospel of Luke is the only one that gives an 
account of the ascension of Jesus, with which it ap- 
propriately ends. This could not be recorded in the 
gospel of Matthew, owing to its symbological connec- 
tion with the west, where the sun goes down; nor could 
it be described in the gospel of Mark, which belongs 
to the under-world darkness and the early dawn. 
But, in accordance with the upward course of the 
symbolism connected with the latter, Mark makes a 
brief mention of this great event; but all he says is, 
"After the Lord had spoken unto them, he was re- 
ceived up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of 
God" (xvi. 19). 

For corresponding reasons, the symbolism of the 
gospel of Luke, which belongs to the east and the 
upper world of light, did not permit of its recording 
the charge to baptize all nations, — baptism being 
connected with the west and the dark waters of the 
under world, as exemplified in the symbolism of 
Matthew and Mark; neither, for the same reason as in 
Luke, could it be mentioned in the fourth gospel, 
which is replete with Divine illumination, and is, as its 
number indicates, the gospel of the kingdom of light. 

The Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book, and, in 
accordance with the symbolism of the number five 
in the diagram — the rays of the setting sun impregnat- 
ing the dark earth — it describes the dissemination of 

1 Colossians iv. 14. 



230 The Biblical Account of Creation 

this spiritual light in the darkness of the Gentile 
world. Therefore, it was written by Luke, the light- 
giver, who formerly, as the writer of the third gospel, 
was connected with the rising sun, and now as the 
writer of the Acts of the Apostles, is connected with 
the setting sun, which is the sign of enlightening the 
dark under world of the Gentiles. 

The chapters of the books of the New Testament 
are in like manner connected with the symbolism of 
the numbers by which they are denoted. The first 
chapter of the gospel of Matthew, for instance, has 
already been shown to be a new beginning. 

The second chapter, in which the parents of the 
infant Jesus, to save him from death, take him down 
by night into the dark land of Egypt; the slaying of 
the infants from two years old and under, in Bethle- 
hem; the weeping of Rachel over her slaughtered 
children; and the death of Herod, — all characterize 
this chapter as a striking example of the dark and 
fatal symbolism of the duad. 

The third chapter tells of the coming of John the 
Baptist, who, as I have already shown, is connected 
with the dawn of day, as the baptism of his disciples 
is at the end of the rite, with the rising of the sun out 
of the dark waters of the under world, of which the 
number three is the sign. 

The fourth chapter, from its number, should 
have reference to the earth and dominion over it; 
and, accordingly, this chapter tells the story of the 
temptation of Jesus, in which the symbolism of the 
number four has a most prominent place: — 

"The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high 
mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of 
the world, and the glory of them; 



Appendix I 231 

11 And saith unto him, All these things will I give 
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." 

The fifth chapter, in the delivery of the sermon 
on the mount, presents the gospel counterpart to the 
delivery of the law en Mount Sinai, which, as we have 
seen, is signified in the solar symbolism of the dia- 
gram, by the light of the setting sun, connected with 
the darkness of the earth. And a reference to this 
symbolism is seen in the statement, "Ye are the 
light of the world"; and to the law itself, in the de- 
claration : — 

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law 
or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to 

fulfil." 



However important and interesting it would be to 
go further into this subject, I must let it rest here for 
the present. Enough has been said to show that the 
sacred text of the Bible has throughout a symbologi- 
cal structure and order of arrangement which no 
human mind of itself could have conceived or carried 
out, and which gives incontrovertible proofs of the 
presence of verbal inspiration. 



APPENDIX II 

The Numerical Symbolism of the Tenth Chapter 
of Genesis, as Presented in the Genealogi- 
cal Table 

In order to keep as close as possible to a continuous 
narrative in describing the origin of the moon, and 
her transformation into an orb of light in the heavens, 
I confined myself wholly to the verbal significance of 
the names in the generations of the sons of Noah, each 
of which is a link in making up the chain of evidence 
for the history of the moon. 

But an equally wonderful symbolism is con- 
nected with the numbers denoted by these names, 
which, owing to its special character, I have thought 
best to put into the present appendix by itself. An 
interpretation of the whole, as presented in the table 
of the generations of the sons of Noah, would be far 
too extensive for this book; but I will speak of some 
of the most important parts, showing the sym- 
bological structure of the record, and what is signified 
by the numbers embodied in it. Prominent among 
these are the numbers ten and twelve, the former a 
cyclical sign connected with the earth, and the latter 
a corresponding sign connected with the movements 
of the moon, and the months of the solar and the 
lunar year. 

232 



Appendix II 233 

For instance: the number of names in the genera- 
tions of Yapheth is fourteen, in the generations of 
Shem, twenty-six, which is twelve more than in 
Yapheth; and in the generations of Ham — including 
the names of Nimrod and his cities — thirty-eight, 
which is twelve more than in Shem. Again: the num- 
ber of names in the generations of Ham is fifty-two, 
just twice the number in Shem. And the total sum 
of the numbers denoted by the names in the genera- 
tions of Ham, 10,644, is greater than the numbers 
denoted by the names in the generations of Shem, 
6644, by 4000 exactly, 1 — the very number required 

1 This explains the remarkable passage in Deut. xxxii. 8 : — 
" When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, 

When he separated the children of Adam, 

He set the bounds of the peoples 

According to the number of the children of Israel"; 

That is 4000, as the number of the names of the tribes shows : 

nTirp- 30 1^51= 9s 

.It I • t: • 



T 



T •-: v 



1386 2614 

1386 

4000 
The tribe of Levi has no place in the typical number here. 
It is excluded by the symbolism of the period spoken of, which 
belongs to the tenth chapter of Genesis, for the same reason 
that Dan was excluded from the twelve tribes in the 
Apocalypse (see Rev. vii. 5-8). 



234 The Biblical Account of Creation 

by the symbolism, as the sign of the great period of 
light and order now beginning in the earth. The 
seventy lands, as already stated, represent all the 
lands of the earth, and with the names of Nimrod 
and his cities added, the total number is seventy- 
eight; and this is the sum of the twelve months of the 
year when added together, according to their designa- 
tion, from one upwards. 

The purpose for which this marvellous genealogy 
has been constructed, is to show, with regard to the 
earth and man, the gradual development from the 
state of darkness and disorder caused by the flood, 
to the regular operations of the laws of nature, as 
manifested in the movements of the sun and moon, 
and the beautiful phenomena presented by the latter 
as an orb of light. This is the appointed sign of the 
beginning of intellectual light in the mind of man, the 
full perfection of which is symbolized by the sun. 
Hence the connection of solar and lunar symbolism 
with the generations of the lands and peoples of the 
earth ; and the way in which the numbers of the names 
and their order are made to express the symbolism 
spoken of is a thing the mind of man could not of it- 
self have conceived, and could not have accomplished. 
It is a miracle embodied in the sacred text, the reality 
of which cannot be called in question. 

The interpretation of the table begins with the 
names of the three patriarchs, Shem, Ham, and 
Yapheth, who represent the three great typical di- 
visions of the earth. As already shown, Shem is 
connected with the east, the side of the sun; Yapheth 
with the west, the side of the moon; and Ham, whose 
place is between the two, is the special representative 
of the dark earth and the under world. Yapheth 



Appendix II 235 

and Shem, as connected with the east and west, 
where the sun and moon rise and set, are symbologi- 
cally equivalent to each other, and are, therefore, as- 
sociated together in the symbolism, in accordance 
with the declaration, "Yapheth dwelleth in the tents 
of Shem." The number of the name of Yapheth 
is 490, of Ham 48, of Shem 340; and the sum of the 
three names is 878. 

Before showing the numerical connection between 
these three names, and the names of the sun and moon 
and earth, I must remind the reader that, at the time 
referred to in the beginning of this chapter, neither 
the sun nor the moon had been mentioned by name, 
nor could they be; for the reason that they had not 
yet attained their perfect form and brightness. 
But there are terms which apply, to them in their 
imperfect state, and this is just what the symbolism 
requires. 

The one used elsewhere 1 of the sun at this early 
period is hJieres, which is descriptive of his being 
surrounded by fiery vapours, and the number of 
hheres is 268. There is also a corresponding designa- 
tion for the moon, descriptive of her appearance 
while she is yet a dark body at the beginning of her 
monthly circuit, when she is called chodesh, which 
signifies what is new, or newly made, and, therefore, 
most appropriate to her at the beginning of her exis- 
tence, before she became a bright orb in the heavens ; 
and the number of chodesh is 312. The earth is the 
third body, and the number of its name ha-aretz 
(with the article, as the symbolism requires) is 296 ; 
and the sum of the three, with the duad, the sign of the 
earthly darkness which is to be dispelled, is 878, 

! Job ix. 7. 



236 The Biblical Account of Creation 

identical with the number of the names of the three 
patriarchs. 

But the symbolism has also reference to the sun 
and moon as they appear at a later period, when the 
sun as the resplendent orb of day is shemesh, the num- 
ber of which is 640; and the moon is yerah, 218, 
together, 858; which with the duad multiplied by ten, 
the sign of the new cycle, is again identical with the 
number of the names of the three patriarchs, 878. 

The connection between the sons of Yapheth 
and the first lands of the earth makes the number ten 
the appropriate sign of their symbolism; and the 
sons of Shem, the high lands which first emerged 
from the dark waters of the flood, and rejoiced in the 
light of heaven, have, for this reason, as the sign of 
their symbolism the number twelve. Eleven is the 
sign of the sons of Ham; and, as the intermediate 
number between ten and twelve, it is connected with 
both the earth and the moon, and serves to change the 
symbolism of Yapheth into the symbolism of Shem. 
And this is what is meant by Canaan, the typical 
representative of Ham, becoming a servant to his 
brethren. In the highest expression of this sym- 
bolism, ten hundred is the sign of the sons of Yapheth, 
eleven hundred the sign of the sons of Ham, and 
twelve hundred the sign of the sons of Shem. 

In connection with this, it is important to point out, 
that the difference between the number of Yapheth 
and the number of Shem, is 150, the number of Elam, 
the firstborn son of Shem; and the sum of his name 
and the number of Yapheth, is 640, the number of 
shemesh, the sun. Again: the difference between the 
united number of Yapheth and Shem, 830, and ten 
hundred, the great cyclical sign of Yapheth, is 170, 



Appendix II 237 

which the number of Ham, 48, serves to make 218, 
the number of yerah, the moon; and the number of 
the moon, with the addition of 78, the sum of her 
twelve monthly circuits about the earth, makes 296, 
the number of the earth. 

The numbers of the names of the three patriarchs' 
sons are determined in a similar way. The difference 
between ten hundred, the great cyclical sign of Yapheth, 
and 878, the sum of the names of Shem, Ham, and 
Yapheth, is 122; and the difference between this and 
365, the number of days in the solar year, is 243, the 
number of the name of Gomer, the eldest son of 
Yapheth. 

The sons of Ham are connected in the symbolism 
with both the sons of Yapheth and the sons of Shem, 
between whom they are placed; and, accordingly, 
the number which is the sign of the three, 878, is to be 
taken three times, once for each of the three typical 
patriarchs, the sum of which is 2634. The difference 
between this and 3300, the sum of the three great 
cyclical signs (1000, 1100, 1200), is 666, 1 and this, less 
the number of Shem, 340, is 326, the number of Kush, 
the eldest son of Ham. 

The same thing is signified by other numbers which 
occur in the symbolism. For instance: the middle 
place connects him with half of the sum (78) of the 
series of twelve, the number of months in the year; and 
365, the number of days, less 39, the sign of the half, 
is again 326, the number of Kush. 

But further: the difference between the number of 
Yapheth, 490, and the number of Shem, 340, is 150, 

1 This is the first time this great symbolic number of the 
Apocalypse occurs, or can occur in the symbolism of the 
Bible. 



238 The Biblical Account of Creation 

which is the number of Elam, the eldest son of Shem. 
And the sum of these three names, Gomer 243, 
Kush 326, and Elam 150, is 719, which is the sum of 
the number of days in the solar year (365) and the 
lunar year (354) taken together. Thus the first line 
of the table presents a most important and striking 
instanceof the solar-lunar character of the genealogical 
record. 

Each line of the table represents a stage of 100 in 
the symbolism, consequently, in the second line, one 
hundred is the sign by which its symbolism is to be 
explained. The second line is also specially connected 
with Ham, the second son of Noah, whose number is 
48. Therefore, the difference between 100, the sign 
of the second line, and 48, the number of Ham, is 52, 
the number of Magog, the second son of Yapheth. 

Again: the number of Ham, 48, multiplied by ten, 
the sign of the cycle of the earth, is 480; and the 
difference between this number and 100, the sign of 
the second line, which is to be taken from it, is 
380, the number of Mitzraim, the second son of Ham. 
And the difference between 393, the sum of Gomer 
and Elam, and 1200, the great cyclical sign of 
Shem, is 807, the number of Asshur, the second son 
of Shem. And in this way the symbolic origin and 
significance of all the names in the generations of the 
sons of Noah can be shown. 

The sum of the names in the third line — Madai 54, 
Put 95, and Arpakshad 605 — is 754, which is a sign 
of the presence of conditions which are to bring light 
upon the earth. 

In accordance with this, and the symbolism of the 
number four as a sign of the four corners of the earth, 
the sum of the names on the fourth line — Yavan 66, 



Appendix II 239 

Canaan 190, and Lud 40 — is 296, which is the number 
of ha-aretz, the earth. 

But the lines whose numbers are those of the 
cyclical signs, ten and twelve, call for special attention. 
A glance at the table will show that the number 
denoted by the ten Yaphetic names, from Gomer to 
Togarmah, is 3593, just seven less than 3600, which 
is three times the great celestial cycle of 1200; and 
this difference of seven is exactly the difference be- 
tween the number of Togarmah, the son of Yapheth, 
648, and the united number of Sheba,the son of Ham, 
and Shelah of Shem, 641. And this is the seven 
given as a sign to Cain the son of darkness, which his 
destroyer, that is, the destroyer of darkness, was 
bound to observe. 1 

The Hamitic character of the eleventh line coincides 
with the symbolism which makes eleven days the 
number of transition from the lunar year to the solar 
year, and the number which denotes the transition 
from the earthly cycle, ten, to the celestial cycle, 
twelve. Hence the name of Eber, "the passer over, " 

1 How the number seven became the sign of Cain, and what 
was meant by it, calls for a special explanation. A glance at the 
diagram of the symbolism of numbers shows that, of the 
four sections of the sphere, one and two belong to the under 
world of darkness, and three and four, which together make 
seven, to the upper world of light ; also that seven follows three 
in the next circuit, as an upper world number. Cain, as the 
son of darkness, belonged to the under world, and the slaying 
him, that is, the dispelling of his darkness, must necessarily 
result in giving the compensation of seven, the sign of the 
upper world of light. The seven has also reference to the 
seven days it takes to enlighten half the moon's disc, and 
seven days for the rest of the darkness to disappear and return 
on the other side. Hence the dual form of the word, shiba- 
thaini, "two sevens.'- 



240 The Biblical Account of Creation 

is the third name in the eleventh line. And, in accord- 
ance with its symbolism, the difference between the 
sum of the Yaphetic names on this line, 3939, and 
the sum of the Hamitic names, 2739, is the sign of the 
great Shemitic cycle, twelve hundred. 

Thus the eleventh line brings the symbolism into 
touch with the twelfth, the first name in which, 
Tarshish, denotes the utmost point at the western 
extremity of the earth, on the border of the waters of 
the under world, and of light and darkness. This 
indicates the existence of a corresponding point in the 
east, and that is denoted by the name of Arpakshad, 
the son of Shem, which, as I have shown, is the last 
stronghold of darkness in the under world of the east. 
Accordingly, Arpakshad is the third from the be- 
ginning in the generations of Shem, just as Tarshish 
is the third from the last in the generations of Yapheth. 

Again: the number of Tarshish is 12 10, that is, 
twelve hundred, the sign of the great cycle of light 
connected with Shem, and ten, the cyclical sign of the 
earth; and this, in accordance with the requirement 
of the symbolism, which makes the west the side of 
the duad, is twice the number of Arpakshad, 605. 
And the correspondence of these two points to each 
other is further denoted by Tarshish being the thirty- 
fifth from Arpakshad on the one side, and Arpak- 
shad the thirty-fifth from Tarshish on the other. The 
character of Tarshish as the point of a new beginning 
is signified by the difference between its number, 12 10, 
and 870, the number of Kittim, which is 340, the 
number of Shem, the father of Arpakshad. 

The second and third names in the twelfth line are 
Nimrod, the number of which is 294, and Peleg 113. 
These two, as the symbolism shows, are to be taken 



Appendix II 241 

together, and their sum is 407. The corresponding 
two names in the eleventh line, are Dedan, the number 
of which is 58, and Eber, which is 272, together 330. 
But Nimrod and Peleg represent the beginning of 
that period of the symbolism in which there is to be 
a moon-lighted earth; and Dedan and Eber, the earth 
and its connected offspring the moon, in the earlier 
stage of their existence, when both were wrapped in 
darkness. In accordance with this, 407, the number 
of Nimrod and Peleg, in the twelfth line, which is the 
sign of light, is 77 more than the number of Dedan and 
Eber in the eleventh line, which is connected with 
darkness; and this number, 77, is the number re- 
quired for the avengement of the death of Lamek the 
son of Cain, 1 that is, in requital for the dispelling of 
darkness, by the transformation of the moon into an 
orb of light. 

For this purpose she must rise from the earth and 
make her circuit around it in the light of the sun; 
and this is signified by the number of the names of the 
twelve sons of Shem, ending with Peleg, which is 3719, 
3000 being the sign of a great period of light, and 719, 
the sum of the days in the solar and the lunar year. 

Here two or three other points of importance may 
be noticed. In the Biblical record, the name of Kush, 
the eldest son of Ham, follows the name of Dodanim, 
the last son of Yapheth; and in accordance with the 
symbolism of this order, the difference between 
the number of the sons of Yapheth, 14 in all, and the 
number of the name of Kush, 326, is 312, the number 
of chodesh, the dark, imperfect moon. And the dif- 
ference between the number of Dodanim, the last of 

i Gen, iv, 24, 



242 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Yapheth's sons, which is 108, and the number of 
Kush, is 218, the number of yerah, the moon in her 
perfect form and brightness. 

But there is a third name, which has an intermediate 
place between chodesh and yerah: it is that of Nimrod, 
"the great hunter before Yah veil." As I have al- 
ready shown, he is the moon in its first wild course 
rushing around the earth, while the two were in touch 
with each other. His symbolism as coming between 
chodesh and yerah is signified by Eber, the eleventh 
of the sons of Shem. This number is intermediate 
between ten, the cyclical sign of the earth, and twelve , 
the cycle of light; and, accordingly, the number of 
Eber, 272, with the signs of the two cycles, is 294, 
the number of Nimrod's name. 

Again: Nimrod and his cities form a symbological 
group of the greatest importance. To show this, it 
is necessary to give a list of them, and the numbers 
of their names: 



Nimrod 


294 


Kalneh 


105 


Babel 


34 


Nineveh 


121 


Erek 


221 


Kalah 


58 


Akkad 


45 


Resen 


310 



594 594 

Thus the number of Nimrod and the names of his 
three cities in the first section of the group, which 
belongs to the dark earth, is 594, and is exactly equal 
to the names of his four cities in the second section of 
the group, which is connected with the light of heaven; 
and the sum of the names in the whole group (594 + 
594) is 1 188. 



Appendix II 243 

And now for the important part this has in the 
symbolism : In the list of the generations of the sons of 
Ham, there arc 38 names, the sum of which is 10,644, 
and, including 48 for Ham himself, as the symbolism 
here requires, the total number is 10,682, which is 
just nine times the number of the names of Nimrod 
and his cities. But further: the number of these, 
1 1 88, is exactly twelve less than the number of the 
great cycle of light, 1200. Again: Nimrod goes forth 
into Asshur, and, adding the number of his name, 294, 
to the number of Asshur, 807, the sum is 11 01, de- 
noting that in him the transition signified by the 
eleven hundred period had taken place, and that he 
had now entered into the twelfth. 

The name of yerah, the moon, the number of which 
is 218, and the two names that follow it — Hadoram, 
255, and Uzal, 44 — form a symbological group, the 
number of which, 517, is connected with light, and it 
stands as the counterpart of the dark side of Nimrod 
and his cities, the number of which — one half of 1 188 — 
is 594. And the difference between these two num- 
bers, 517 and 594, is seventy-seven, the symbological 
compensation for the destruction of darkness by the 
powers of light. 

In accordance with this, the name of Sheleph, the 
son of Shem, stands side by side, on the same line 
(the fifteenth) with Akkad, with which the dark side 
of the Nimrodic symbolism ends; and the difference 
between the number of Akkad, 45, and the number of 
Sheleph, 410, is 365, the number of days in the solar 
year. And further: the number at this point of the 
names of the sons of Ham, including the cities of 
Nimrod to Akkad, is 3333, a most striking symbologi- 
cal number, and significant of a plenitude of light. 



244 The Biblical Account of Creation 

Nor is this all: for the number of Akkad, 45, and 
Kalneh, 105, make 150, the number of Elam, thereby 
indicating the transition here of the symbolism to the 
sons of Shem. And thus Nineveh, the next of the 
great cities, is built by Asshur. 

The symbolism connected with the names of Resen 
and Uzal, in the third line of this group, is not less 
remarkable. Resen, as already stated, means a 
halter or bridle, and Uzal a twisting or rolling round, 
as of threads in spinning: the former has reference to 
the power which holds the moon in her orbit, and the 
latter to the light and darkness which follow each 
other alternately upon her surface as she revolves 
around the earth, and with the earth around the sun. 
Accordingly, the number of Resen, 310, and of Uzal, 
44, together make 354, the number of days in the 
lunar year. 

Again: the number denoted by the names of this 
group, 517, exactly covers the difference between the 
number of the names of the sons of Yapheth, 6127, 
and the number of the names of the sons of Shem, 
6644; and this is what is meant by the declaration, 
4 ' Yapheth dwelleth in the tents of Shem." 

The last name in the generations of the sons of 
Shem, Yobab, I have already explained of the moon, 
when she is at the entrance of a new monthly circuit, 
which is symbolized as a gate; and hence the meaning 
of Yobab's name, "Yahveh" (the God of light and 
darkness) "is the gate." The occurrence of this 
name as the twenty-sixth of the sons of Shem is part 
of the symbolism, for twenty-six is the number 
of Yahveh's name. And the number of Yobab, in 
which the name of Yahveh occurs in a shortened 
form, is twenty, which, as I pointed out at the begin- 



Appendix II 245 

ning, is required by the symbolism, in connection with 
the number of shemesh, the sun, 640, and yerah, the 
moon, 218, to make 878, the sum of the names of 
the three typical patriarchs, Shem, Ham, and Ya- 
pheth, who now represent the enlightened earth. 

The marvellous symbolism connected with the 
numbers of these names has now been sufficiently 
brought to light, but one more instance of great im- 
portance remains, which includes every name in 
the Biblical narrative, and is necessarily the last. 
In the part relating to the cities of Nimrod, there is 
mention of the land of Shinar, Rehoboth Ir, and 
Asshur. These were, of course, not included in the 
genealogy of the sons of Ham, in connection with 
which they occur, but they form a part of the sym- 
bolism of the whole record, and, therefore, must be 
taken into account in the final summing up. 

The numbers of these three names, beginning with 
Shinar, are, respectively, 620, 890, and 807, and 
their sum is 2317, which, with 23,415, the sum of the 
generations of the three sons of Noah, makes 25,732, 
to which, as the symbolism requires, 268, the num- 
ber of hheres, the sun, is to be added, and the total 
sum, which completes the symbolism of the record, 
is 26,000, — the number of years in which the earth 
makes the entire circuit of the zodiacal signs, as 
determined by the precession of the equinoxes; and 
it is also the number of the great Yahvistic period 
(1000X26), indicated by the symbolism of Yobab, 
which describes Yahveh as the gate to the great 
circuit of the heavens. 



APPENDIX III 

The Numerical Symbolism of the Generations 
op Terah 

The symbolism of the generations of Terah begins 
at the point where the mental light of man, as signi- 
fied by the increasing extent of brightness on the 
moon's disc, indicates the ultimate disappearance of 
the animal darkness that still clings to him. And, 
therefore, his son Abram has the half moon for the 
sign of his mental light on one side, and the half sun 
on the other; as shown in the Scheme of the Solar- 
Lunar Symbolism of the Generations of Terah. 

Again : the name of the moon as the sign of Abram 
is Yerah, and its number is 218, one half of which is 
109; and the number of hheres, 1 the sun, is 268, one 
half of which is 134; and the sum of the two halves 
is 243, which is the number denoted by the letters of 
Abram's name. 

The next sign in the symbolism is Uzal, which 
signifies a rolling off or away, that is, of the darkness 
from the east side of the moon's disc, which is the 
sign of the removal of the lingering darkness from the 

» In the symbolism of this early period in the earth's 
history, the sun is hheres, and not shemesh. See for example 
Job ix. 7. 

246 



Appendix III 247 

mind of man, and which takes place in the symbolism 
of Nahor, 1 Haran, and Lot, in the last of whom it 
passes away altogether. And this is equivalent to 
dispelling the darkness of Hatzarmaveth, the sign of 
Terah; and, accordingly, the sum of the numbers of 
their names — Uzal 44, Nahor 264, Haran 255, and 
Lot 45 — is exactly equal to the number of Terah, 
608. 

Again: Hadoram, the bright moon, corresponds 
in the symbolism to Haran, the dawning light of the 
sun ; hence the two names have the same number, 255 
each. And this connection of the light of the moon 
with the dawning light of the sun is repeated in the 
symbolism of Sarai, and indicated by the number of 
her name, which is the same as that of Haran and 
Hadoram united, 510. 

The lunar sign of Lot is Diklah, the full moon, the 
symbolic place of which is on the horizon opposite to 
the sun; but when she is at the other side of the earth 
and in conjunction with the sun, she is the new moon, 
and is a dark body. And, in accordance with this, 
the difference between the number of chodesh, the 
new moon, on the western side of the earth, which 
is 312, and 218, the number of Yerah, the half moon, 
which is the sign of Abram, is 94; and this is the exact 
difference between 139, the number of Diklah, the 

1 The occurrence of the name of Nahor here will be made 
more striking by a reference to the Scheme of the Solar- 
Lunar Symbolism of the Generations of Terah, where it will 
be seen that just as Nahor, the son of Serug, is the second 
in place in the upper world of the west, as distinguished from 
the under world, Nahor the son of Terah is the second in place, 
following the course of the moon, on the east side of the 
earth, where the sun rises, as distinguished from the west, 
which is the birthplace of the moon. 



248 The Biblical Account of Creation 

full moon on the eastern side of the earth, and 45, the 
number of Lot, of whom she is the sign. 

I have already stated that woman is symbologically 
connected with the under world, on the east side of 
which, as the scheme shows, are the names of Sarai 
and Milkah, and the number of the two (510 and 95) is 
605 ; and on the west are the names of Iskah and Sarai, 
and the number of the two (95 and 510) is also 605. 
And the sum of the numbers of these names is 12 10, 
being identical with the number of Tarshish, which, 
in the interpretation of the generations of the sons of 
Yapheth, in the tenth chapter, was shown to be the 
boundary of the under world of darkness. 

Again: the number of Sarai's first lunar sign, 
Ebal, and of her name (108 and 510), is 618, and the 
number of Milkah and her lunar sign, Abimael (95 
and 84), is 179; and the sum of the two is 797, the 
numerical symbol of woman on the east side of the 
under world. And on the west side, the number of 
Sarai's name, and of her lunar sign, Ophir (510 and 
287), is likewise 797, the same as on the east side. 

Here, in the present phase of the symbolism, which 
represents the gradual dying out in woman's mind 
of the lunar light, which is as darkness, she attains a 
mental condition corresponding to that of Terah 
(man), at the beginning of his generations; and, conse- 
quently, the symbolism of the under world ends with 
his name, just as the symbolism of his generations in 
the upper world began with it. 

Hence the number of the names of Iskah and 
Sarai (95 and 510), showing the upward course of 
woman in the symbolism of the west, is 605, which 
reaches no further than the lunar sign of Ophir, and 
the symbolism of this part of the under world is 



Appendix III 249 

completed by Terah, the number of whose name is 
608, equivalent to the number of Iskah and Sarai, 
with three in excess. And this (the number three) 
is the sign of the first appearance of the new moon 
in the west, just as it is the sign of the sun rising in 
the east. 

This brings the symbolism to the point at which it 
began, when the moon became the sign of the en- 
lightened earth, that is, of the mental light of man. 
Therefore, Terah represents the common condition 
of both; and, accordingly, the sum of the number of 
chodesh y the new moon, 312, and 296, the number 
of ha-aretz, the earth ( = man), is 608, the number 
of Terah's name. 

And again: the symbolism which makes the sun 
also, in connection with Yerah, the lunar sign of 
Abram, to be typical of the god-like glory of man's 
intellectual light, is signified by the sum of the num- 
bers of their names — hheres, the sun, 268; Yerah, the 
moon, 218; and ha-aretz, the earth, 296, — in all 782. 
And this is the sum of the number of Abram, 243, 
Nahor 264, Haran 255, Lot 45, and Yobab 20, in 
whom man gradually became an intellectual, reason- 
ing, and moral being. 

Thus an infinitely higher meaning than has ever 
been thought of belongs to the Divine mandate of 
the fourth creative day: — 

"Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens 
to divide between the day and the night; and let 
them be for signs, and for set times, and for days and 
years: and let them be for lights in the expanse of the 
heavens to give light upon the earth. " 



APPENDIX IV 

Passages from Proverbs, Psalms, and Habakkuk 

proverbs 

The Bible recognizes a wide difference between 
matter as it now exists in the heavenly bodies and 
the earth, and the etherial fluid of the abyss, out of 
which it was made. This is clearly described in the 
sublime passage in the Book of Proverbs (viii. 22-29) 
where Wisdom affirms her eternal co-existence with 
God:— 

Yahveh possessed me, the beginning of his way, 

Before his works of old. 

I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, 

Before the earth was. 

When there were no depths, I was brought forth; 

When there were no fountains heavy with waters. 

Before the hills was I brought forth : 

While as yet he had not made the earth, and the 

fields, 
And the beginning of the dusts of the world. 
When he established the heavens, I was there : 
When he set a circle upon the face of the deep : 
When he made firm the skies above : 

250 



Appendix IV 251 

When the fountains of the deep became strong: 

When he set its bound to the sea, 

That the waters do not pass over it : 

When he appointed the foundations of the earth 

I was with him, his designer, 

And day by day was his delight. 

The depths (tehemoth) are the waters of the abyss ; 
and the words be-en tehemoth, "when there were no 
depths/' have reference to a time when the vortical 
movements of the abysmal waters had not formed the 
matter of which the heavenly bodies and the earth 
are made. Of like significance is the expression, 
"When there were no fountains heavy with waters." 
The fountains here spoken of are the fountains of the 
great deep (the abyss), which had not yet begun to 
flow by the action of the subtle forces which produced 
motion and gravitation in the abysmal fluid; and, 
consequently, they were not yet "heavy with waters." 
But, afterwards, when the skies were made firm, the 
existence of gravitation and its action are explicitly 
spoken of in the words, "When the fountains of the 
deep became strong." The "dusts of the world" 
have reference to the volumes of matter in an atomic 
state with which the formation of the earth began. 
The great vortical movements connected with the crea- 
tive action, and the formation of the heavenly 
bodies, and their revolutions, are signified by the 
"circle" 1 set upon the face of the deep. 

1 In accordance with this is the symbolism which every- 
where in the Bible connects a whirling motion with the action 
of the spirit. E. g., Ezek. i. 20: "The spirit of the living 
creature was in the wheels'"; x. 13: "And as for the wheels, 
they were called in my hearing the Whirling. " 



252 The Biblical Account of Creation 

PSALMS 

The Psalmist also goes back to a time preceding the 
creation of the earth, and in language of the loftiest 
inspiration describes the great doings of God, from the 
first appearance of light in the abyss, to the end of 
the flood: — 

2. Who coverest thyself with light as with a 

garment ; 
Who stretchest out the heavens like a 
curtain : 

3. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in 

the waters ; 
Who maketh the cloud his chariot, 
Who walketh upon the wings of the wind ; 

4. Who maketh winds his messengers, 
His ministers flaming fire; 

5. Who laid the foundations of the earth, 
That it should not be moved for ever. 

6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a 

vesture ; 
The waters stood above the mountains. 

7. At thy rebuke they fled; 

At the voice of thy thunder they hasted 
away. 

8. They went up mountains, they went down 

valleys, 
Unto the place which thou hadst founded 
for them. 

9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not 

pass over; 



Appendix IV 253 

That they turn not again to cover the earth. 
(Psalm civ.) 

The flood has always been regarded as an event 
directed solely to the work of destruction; and no one 
has thought of it as having a beneficent and important 
part in the work of creation. Yet this is really the 
case. At the time of its occurrence, as I have al- 
ready shown, the whole earth was covered with a 
hard black crust, broken and thrown up in great 
mountain masses, and rent with fissures reaching 
down to the internal fires, which sent up streams of 
molten matter which overspread the surface. This 
is the evil and wickedness of the earth, which the 
flood was sent to destroy. It was necessary to 
break down the great mountains and hard rocky hills 
which covered the earth, and to check the outflow 
of molten matter from its fiery depths, before it could 
be formed into new lands fit for the production of life 
and the existence of living creatures. 

These new lands, as I have shown in the interpre- 
tation of the tenth chapter of Genesis, are the people 
of Yahveh, corresponding in the symbolism with the 
children of Israel in after time. 1 And, accordingly, 
in the song of Moses, which is addressed to the 
heavens and the earth, and abounds in passages 
descriptive of the work of the creation, we are 
told that, — 

1 This correspondence is explained by the principle of 
animal and vegetable life being embodied in the new lands, 
just as the principle of spiritual life was embodied in the 
children of Israel. See the last words of the song (v. 43), 
where land and people are associated together as equivalent 
terms. 



254 The Biblical Account of Creation 

When the Most High gave to the nations their 

inheritance, 
When he separated the children of Adam [the 

earth], 
He set the bounds of the peoples [the lands] 
According to the number of the children of 

Israel. (Deut. xxxii. 8.) 

The seventy-seventh Psalm describes the awful 
grandeur of the phenomena of the flood, connected 
with the formation of these lands and bringing them 
up out of the depths of the sea, which it applies to 
the deliverance of the children of Israel at a later 
period from the dark land of Egypt : — 

14. Thou [Yahveh] art the God that doest 

wonders : 
Thou hast made known thy strength among 
the peoples. 

15. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy 

people, 
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. 

16. The waters saw thee, they were afraid : 
The depths also trembled. 

17. The clouds poured out w r aters; 
The skies sent out a sound : 
Thine arrows also darted about. 

18. The voice of thy thunder w~as in the whirl- 

wind; 
The lightnings lightened the world: 
The earth trembled and shook, 

19. Thy way was in the sea 



Appendix IV 255 

And thy paths in the great waters, 
And thy footsteps were not known. 
20. Thou leddest thy people like a flock. 

HABAKKUK 

The third chapter of the prophecies of Habakkuk 
gives a sublime description of the flood and of God's 
directing its irresistible forces in destroying the wild 
disorder of the earth, and in forming and bringing 
up new lands from beneath the waters to beautify 
it with life. 

The prophet's mind has been dwelling on the 
great events in the past ages of the earth. To him 
it seems that there has been a relaxation in God's 
work, and he prays him to revive it. This is answered 
by his seeing God in mental vision doing the great 
works he did of old, thus foreshadowing the revival 
he prayed for, and he describes this in language of the 
loftiest inspiration: — 

3 . God cometh from Teman, 

And the Holy One from mount Paran. 
His majesty hath covered the heavens, 
And his praise hath filled the earth. 

4. And his brightness is as the light; 
He hath rays from his hand : 

And there is the hiding of his power. 

5. Before him goeth destruction, 
And fiery bolts go forth at his feet. 

6. He hath stood, and he measureth the earth; 
He hath beheld, and he shaketh the nations : 
And the eternal mountains are shattered, 



256 The Biblical Account of Creation 

The everlasting hills sink down; 
The ways of old are his. 

7. I have seen the tents of Kushan in afflic- 

tion: 
The curtains of the land of Midian tremble. 

8. Is Yahveh wroth against the rivers? 
Is thy anger against the rivers ? 
Thy outgoings against the sea? 

For thou dost ride upon thy horses, 
Thy chariots of deliverance: 

9. Thou dost strip naked thy bow; 

Sworn are the chastisements of thy word. 
With rivers thou dost cleave the earth. 

10. The mountains have seen thee, and they 

writhe ; 
The tempest of waters hath passed over: 
The deep hath uttered its voice, 
It hath lifted up its hands on high. 

11. Sun — moon — hath stood still in its dwell- 

ing-place; 
For light go forth thine arrows, 
For brightness thy glittering spear. 

12. In fury thou passest over the earth, 
Thou dost thresh the nations in anger. 

13. Thou goest forth for the deliverance of 

thy people, 
For the deliverance of thy appointed ones; 
Thou hast smitten off the head from the 

house of the wicked, 
Laying bare the foundation even unto the 

neck. Selah. 



Appendix IV 257 

14. Thou hast pierced with his own spear the 

head of his leaders : 
They come as a whirlwind to scatter me ; 
Their exultation is as to devour the weak 

in a hidden place. 

15. Thou hast trodden the sea with thy horses, 
The heap of mighty waters. 

16. I have heard, and my belly trembleth, 
My lips quiver at the sound; 
Rottenness cometh into my bones, and 

under me is a shaking. 
When I wait for the day of bringing forth, 
For the coming up of the people, they 

crowd upon us. 

It is the earth which is here speaking through the 
mouth of the prophet ; and the description begins with 
the phenomena connected with the first outburst of 
waters from the rain-clouds of the flood: — 

"God cometh from Teman, 
And the Holy One from mount Paran." 

Teman is the hot charred surface of the earth, and 
mount Paran its upheaved and cavernous crust. The 
symbol of his majesty is the great mountain of storm 
clouds in the heavens, his praise is the loud voice of 
the whirlwind and the thunder, and the brightness 
which surrounds him, the flashing flames which over- 
spread the darkness of the sky. The rays from his 
hands are the darting lightnings, which are also the 
fiery bolts at his feet. 

In the midst of this tempest of fire, and bursting 
1? 



258 The Biblical Account of Creation 

rain-clouds, and whirlwinds, God is described as 
standing and measuring the earth; by which is signi- 
fied the action of his controlling power in restraining 
the excessive swiftness of its rotation to a speed that 
would reduce it to a stable and spherical shape; and 
in destroying the great mountains of black rock, with 
their stupendous precipices and yawning gulfs, in 
order to prepare the way for the formation of new 
lands replete with life. Consequently, after he be- 
held,— 

11 He shaketh the nations [the high rocky lands of the 
earth] ; 
And the eternal mountains are shattered, 
The everlasting hills sink down." 

The tents of Kushan 1 are the black clouds of 
the heavens, the curtains of the land of Midian 2 are 
the fiery thunder-clouds of strife. The rivers are the 
flowing streams of the flood, the sea is their accumu- 
lated waters; and the horses of Yahveh, on which he 
rides, are the rolling billows of the flood, which are also 
his chariots of deliverance; for Yahveh has come to 
deliver his people, and he has stripped his bow naked 
for the battle. 

The mountains writhe, the tempest of waters rushes 
on its way, the deep cries aloud in fury and lifts its 
hands on high, sun and moon are hidden in darkness, 
— no light but the fiery arrows of the black rain-clouds, 
and the thunderbolts piercing the thick darkness of 

• Kushan is a poetical form of Kush, which is connected 
with choshek, darkness. 

2 Midian, a derivative from din, a root denoting strife, 
contention. 



Appendix IV 259 

the sky. It is a scene of the most awful and terrific 
grandeur, which the earth has witnessed but once, and 
will never see again. 

The nations which Yahveh threshes in anger 
are the old black lands of the charred earth, the re- 
presentatives of evil. But the great act by which he 
prepared the way for the deliverance of his people 
was the smiting off the head of the house of the 
wicked. For the explanation of this we must go back 
to the beginning of the symbolism. The head of the 
house of the wicked is Cain. The interpretation 
of his history in the fourth chapter of Genesis shows 
that at first he was a great protuberance on the surface 
of the earth, thrown up by its swift rotation on its 
axis, and from the same cause, constantly shifting its 
place. All the while it was increasing in height and 
magnitude, and was tending more and more to become 
a separate body. Thus a neck was gradually formed 
between it and the earth ; and when the rushing waters 
of the flood came, they cut this away, — 

. ''Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck." 

And the head of the house of the wicked was swept 
away. 

In like manner the heads of his leaders — the great 
black mountains — were overthrown, and borne on- 
ward in rolling masses by the waters of the flood. 
And the earth cries out, — 

They come as a whirlwind to scatter me; 
Their exultation is as to devour the weak in 

a hidden place. 
Thou hast trodden the sea with thy horses, ? 



260 The Biblical Account of Creation 

The heap of mighty waters. 

I have heard, and my belly trembleth, 

My lips [the fissures of the earth] quiver at the 

sound; 
Rottenness cometh into my bones [the breaking 

and crumbling of the rocks], and under me is 

a shaking. 
When I wait for the day of bringing forth, 
For the coming up of the people [the new lands], 

they crowd upon us. 

There is nothing more said here about the head 
of the house of the wicked ; for, when it was smitten off, 
it signified that the period of darkness and disorder 
was at an end. But Yahveh had spoken to Cain 
of "a lifting up'' that might be made, and of a 
struggle with the power of evil, which he was 
to overcome (Gen. iv. 7). This upward course is 
indicated in the after events of his history, and 
clearly shown in the interpretation of the tenth 
chapter of Genesis, where the wandering son of the 
earth, so long connected with darkness and evil, is, 
at last, lifted up to the heavens, and made a bright 
orb of light. 

But for the slaying of Cain, that is, dispelling the 
darkness, of which he was the typical embodiment, 
the number seven is the appointed sign of compensa- 
tion. And, accordingly, here, where he is described 
as "the head of the house of the wicked," the word 
rosh, "head," is written for the only time KffcO, with 
a daghesh in the Resh, which doubles the numerical 
value of the letter. This is an important sign in the 
symbolism; for the number of the word rosh, when 



Appendix IV 261 

thus written, is seven hundred and one, 1 — the seven 
hundred being the sign of compensation for the smit- 
ing off the head of the typical representative of dark- 
ness and evil ; and one, which is the number of the first 
letter, Aleph, of the alphabet, the sign of a new 
beginning. 

Further: the letter Resh itself is the symbol of a 
head, and when doubled by a daghesh, of two heads; 
or rather, of two conceptions of a head, — one, the 
head of Cain, as the dark and evil wanderer upon 
the earth; the other, as lifted up from the earth, 
and made a bright orb of light. And these two 
heads — the head of darkness and the head of light 
— are still seen in the monthly changes of the moon. 

Again: the symbolism which made the moon the 
type of the purified earth requires that the number 
seven shall be connected as a sign with the new 
lands which correspond with the moon's condition 
as an orb of light. And this is seen in the 
declaration, — " Shebuoth mattoth omer," i. e., "Sworn 
are the chastisements of thy word. " For the 
word shebuoth, rendered "sworn," also means 
seven, since the most solemn oaths were taken by 
the sacrifice of seven victims; and to seven one's 
self, was to swear an oath. Therefore, the ex- 
pression, shebuoth mattoth omer, is equivalent to 
saying, li sevens are the chastisements of thy word." 
But, still more important and remarkable, the 

1 *j = 200 X2 =400 

#- 300 

701 



262 The Biblical Account of Creation 

number of *"'>?V, shebuoth, is seven hundred, 
the sign of lifting up from the lower world of darkness 
to the upper world of light, and seventy-eight} the 
number of new lands and cities of the purified earth, 
as shown in the symbolism of the tenth chapter of 
Genesis. 

It was only in these new lands, as I have stated, 
that living matter could be brought into existence; 
and in the interpretation of that chapter I showed 
that the origin of life was connected with the waters 
of the flood, and their action on the surface of the 
earth while still warm with its internal fires. And, 
in accordance with this, the foaming billows of the 
clayey waters, which swept round about the earth, 
are here (v. 15) called chorner, the Hebrew term for 
the protoplastic matter in which life had its origin. 

y= 70 

778 



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